Enchanting Shadow
by ishippedsohardisunk
Summary: Amy Havens doesn't have a clue about her past. The Marauders are all interested in her for various reasons and adopt her as one of the gang, not realizing how her mysterious past is going to affect them. *This is a kind of weird Marauders fic I wrote about three years ago but had saved on my computer. I'm posting it just because. I might finish it if there's interest.*
1. Chapter 1

Twelve-year-old Amy Havens was sitting alone in the Great Hall trying to get a bit of homework done between classes when the most extraordinary thing happened. Someone came marching up to her. Seeing as Amy had been on the receiving end of a very powerful Memory Charm just before coming to Hogwarts, she didn't know anything about her past. Or anyone.

Even now, almost two years later, she spoke to no one, keeping her head down and getting her work done. Amy had perfected the art of blending in. Absolutely no one in school knew who she was. If they ever got a glimpse of her, she'd be gone a second later. She preferred it that way. Being practically invisible had allowed her to discover so much more about the ancient castle than she would have been able to otherwise.

"Eva?" the boy whispered and she shook her head, still baffled this boy had noticed her. She was usually able to practically melt into the woodwork so nobody noticed her. She even had her own dorm.

"Amy," she said quietly. "You're in my year, aren't you? In Gryffindor?" She had seen him around before, usually surrounded by a group of admirers, as he was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Everyone seemed to be obsessed with Quidditch for some reason Amy could never understand.

"Yeah," the boy's abstraction from when he first walked up seemed to disappear in an instant. "I'm James Potter. Want to come sit with me and my mates?"

Amy didn't know what to say, but the boy-James-didn't seem to be able to take no for an answer. She made not a squeak of protest as he took hold of her arm and practically dragged her to the nearly empty Gryffindor table where three other boys her age were sitting.

She could only imagine what they were thinking as James introduced her. Amy's plainness was part of why she'd been able to blend in so well. Her pale skin, black braids, and hazel eyes really weren't anything special.

"H-hi," the shortest, slightly lumpy boy stuttered. "I-I'm P-Peter. Peter P-Pettigrew." Amy smiled faintly at him, grateful he said anything at all.

"Remus Lupin," said the one with the sandy hair. Poor kid looked half asleep, but still managed to give Amy a genuine smile, making her feel much more at ease.

"Sirius Black, but you can call me anything you want, love," the one with long shaggy hair said with a wink, turning Amy's face bright red. James smacked his arm and he scowled momentarily before going back to his original flirty grin.

After the introductions had been made, the conversation started up again and Amy found herself enjoying listening to their discussion, though not inputting anything herself. It was sort of nice being around people again.

By the end of the day, Amy had four friends. She hadn't been this happy or felt this normal since she was Obliviated. She just hoped that her newly formed friendships would last.


	2. Chapter 2: Two Years Later

Amy glared at Sirius Black as he kept flicking notes at her in Transfiguration. It was standard for him. Transfiguration was his best subject, so inevitably, at some point in the lesson, he'd zone out and start throwing things at Amy. Some days he threw candy. Others he threw notes.

Once he even started throwing any throwable object he could find. When he threw the iguana he was supposed to be Vanishing, McGonagall gave him a detention. After that, he'd stopped throwing things when she was looking.

Amy glanced down at the growing pile of parchment scraps on her desk and read them again.

Amy I'm bored.

Amy do something funny so I won't be bored.

Think I should throw something at James?

Amy didn't see how that could end well. James was sitting on the other side of the room, as far from Sirius as could possibly be. McGonagall, wisely, had separated them earlier in the year because when together they distracted everyone in the vicinity with their antics.

Another note sailed into her lap. Amy, do something funny or I'll tell Remus you fancy him.

She shot him a murderous glare. Amy did fancy Remus a bit, but she had never told that to anyone, knowing that Sirius would make fun of her and that James would make things awkward by being ridiculously overprotective. It had to be an empty threat. It was just something Sirius was saying to rile her up. He enjoyed doing that.

Say anything stupid and you're a dead man. Amy scrawled back and pushed onto his desk. He just grinned at her, causing her to roll her eyes. Sirius was so stupid sometimes. She loved all her boys, but they could be idiots. Well, Remus was generally the most normal out of all of them, even if he was a werewolf.

James and Sirius had figured that particular detail out a few months after Amy had met them all. Not that it mattered at all. Remus was an amazing person, and a wonderful friend. The four of them were actually trying to figure out how to become Animagi so they could help him when he transformed. Thus far, they weren't having much luck.

Sirius was still turned around in his seat making kissy faces at her, and Amy felt her face heat but hoped it wasn't too obvious. When the bell rang it was a mercy. She was completely ready to melt into the shadows and go to Potions all by herself.

"Amy!" James called after her before she could make her escape. "Are you going to meet up with us for lunch after class?"

Cringing inwardly, she turned and smiled. "Sure, Jamesy. Save me a seat. And smack that idiot you call your best mate for me, will you?"

Amy smiled to herself as she heard James smack Sirius on the arm and his indignant "what was that for?" Good old James always had her back.

He and Sirius could both be annoying, but they were hilarious. After two years she still didn't quite know what to make of Peter. He wasn't as magically talented or as outgoing as any of her other friends and it was a bit weird how he practically worshipped James sometimes.

Amy actually got along best with Remus. They were the most alike. He wasn't quite as into messing with people as the rest and he didn't really care that when she talked she never talked about herself. That was a source of never ending conflict between her and Sirius. He was forever asking her personal questions she honestly didn't know the answers to.

Amy had been living in a Muggle orphanage during her summer breaks since she was a first year. She didn't remember if she even had parents. Professor Dumbledore had found her in the orphanage after she had been Obliviated, told her she was a witch, and let her come to Hogwarts.

Shaking her head free of these depressing thoughts, she slunk off towards the dungeons, but not before being noticing she was being watched by a very intelligent, very curious pair of green eyes. Lily Evans. The love of James' life.


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius Black wasn't in a good mood. Amy still wasn't giving him the time of day, and he had sufficient reason to believe she fancied Remus instead of him. Why didn't she fancy him? He was good-looking, funny, charming…at least that's what all the other girls said about him. He was even on the Quidditch team. A Beater. How come the one girl he actually wanted to notice him, wouldn't?

Amy was so mysterious all the time. She never talked about herself more than the trivial. He understood not wanting to talk about family; his was terrible. But she didn't even talk about herself. Most of the time, she just sat back and listened to the rest of them talk, occasionally making a seemingly insignificant comment or two. Why was her silence slowly driving him insane?

He'd always thought she was a bit mental the way she was so intent on remaining unseen and alone. Honestly, she was friends with some of the most popular people in the school. With her looks and personality, she could be just as popular. But she didn't seem to want it.

"Where's Amy?" he asked, frustration coloring his tone. It was fifteen minutes into lunch and she hadn't shown up yet.

Remus looked up from his plate with a half-smile. "Try over there, mate."

Sure enough, Amy was practically gliding towards them, a look of excitement on her face. "Sorry I'm late. I discovered a new secret passage on my way out of the dungeons. I'll have to show you later."

"Sweet," James grinned. "Once you show us, we can add it to the Map." The five of them-with Amy's expert knowledge of the castle-had begun to create a magical map of Hogwarts. It still had some work to be done on it, as they kept finding new secret passageways and such.

Amy returned his smile with a satisfied one of her own, making Sirius' stomach squirm. She and James were so close. Granted, he was pretty sure that she was just a surrogate for his dead cousin.

James had told Sirius of his best friend from before Hogwarts, his cousin Eva Potter, who had disappeared just before he began his first year. Her body was never recovered. The day after James introduced Amy to the rest of them, he admitted he originally went up to her because she looked startlingly like Eva had.

Sometimes Sirius wondered if maybe James thought Amy WAS Eva. He'd been worrying about that more and more lately. James seemed very overprotective of Amy, but when she wasn't around, sometimes he had the strangest expression on his face that made Sirius wonder what was eating him.

"Hey Evans!" James called cheerfully, snapping Sirius out of his reverie.

Lily Evans-his best friend's crush since first year-turned and glared at him, rolling her green eyes. "What do you want, Potter?"

He shrugged and put on a flirty grin. "Who said I needed an excuse to talk to you?"

She rolled her eyes again before they settled on Amy. "Who's this?"

Amy suddenly went very still and looked like she wanted to melt into the floor.

"I'm sure I've seen her with you before," Evans continued, oblivious to Amy's discomfort.

Amy shot a pleading glance in James' direction and he gave her a confused look in return, as if to say "what do you want me to do?" She then turned her pleading gaze on Remus, who purposely dropped his quill, giving Amy any excuse to get out of sight. She smiled at him before slithering out on the other side of the table to make her escape.

"None of your business, Evans," I said brusquely, annoyed that Amy had turned to Remus in her time of need. I could have distracted Evans just as well.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Is that so?"

"She's shy," Remus explained. "Doesn't like people to notice her."

Peter looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut as Evans persisted. "If she doesn't want to be noticed, why on earth does she hang about with you lot?"

James' smile that was almost always plastered on his face when Lily Evans was around fell. "Sirius is right. It's really not your business, Evans." At this, she looked truly shocked, as James was usually privy to do anything she wanted.

"Can I at least know her name?" she asked.

"Amy Havens," Peter piped up. Remus, James, and I all glared at him and he instantly shrunk in his seat, regretting his slip.

"Good to know," Evans said, turning on her heel and going to meet up with Snivellus Snape. What she sees in him over James I'll never know.

James scowled at the table. "Stupid Snivellus…" He was thinking along the same lines I was, it seems. Guess neither of us gets the girl we want. Depressing.


	4. Chapter 4

Remus sighed, exhausted as he tried in vain to keep at his Arithmancy homework. It was almost the full moon and he was beginning to feel sick. Imagining the pain he'd soon feel was enough to distract him from the essay he should have been writing.

"You alright there Remus?" Amy asked quietly. They were the only two in their group of friends taking the subject, so they generally studied together. James, Sirius, and Peter elected to take Care of Magical Creatures instead. Remus wasn't the biggest fan of magical creatures, for obvious reasons.

He looked up at her beautiful, concerned face swimming in front of his tired eyes. Amy always seemed to know when something was wrong, even more than the others did. She had been the one to discover he was a werewolf before the others had. She'd told him she knew, but hadn't told the other three Marauders. They'd had to figure it out for themselves. He'd loved her for that.

Remus had been completely in love with Amy ever since. He could tell Sirius had recently begun to fancy her though, and he didn't want to cause discord amongst his friends, so he kept it to himself. Besides, she deserved better than he could offer. Who could love a werewolf when they had a normal, healthy, wealthy wizard after them? Still, the very thought of Amy with Sirius made his insides lurch. He selfishly wanted her to himself while simultaneously wishing he could shut her out.

"I'm fine," he lied. "Just having a hard time thinking of what to write." She looked him over skeptically but shrugged it off. Another thing to love about Amy: she rarely pushed things.

She sucked on the end of a Sugar Quill as she thought of how to fill in the last two inches of her scroll.

"How on earth did you manage to almost finish already?" Remus asked, impressed. She flushed a little and gave a small shrug as a figure rounded the corner. "People, three o'clock," he warned under his breath. She took the hint and ducked under the table.

"Remus, where's Amy?" Lily Evans asked, hands on her hips.

He answered warily, thinking of Amy hiding under the table. "What does it matter? Just let it go, Lily. She likes to be left alone."

"I just want to be her friend!" Lily said, frustration coloring her tone. "Why are you lot so intent on hiding her as if she's some big secret?"

That was an excellent question. Remus knew she liked her privacy, but he'd always wondered why. Amy did seem to be hiding something, something huge. As an experienced secret keeper himself, Remus knew she had something serious going on. He also knew enough about her to know she'd never divulge it or ask for help. Not even from James, who seemed to be her surrogate brother.

"We're not," Remus said without conviction. "If she wanted to show herself, she would. Please don't scare her off."

Sighing, she conceded and left. "The coast is clear," he said and Amy poked her head out from under the table.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "Do you believe her?"

"What, that she wants to be your friend? Yeah, I do," Remus admitted. "Lily's got something against James and Sirius because they don't get along with her best friend, but she's a good person. Very kind."

Amy mulled this over for a few minutes as Remus continued attempting to write my essay. Eventually, she glanced at the clock and jumped up. "I've got Divination in a few minutes. Best be off. See you, Rem."

"See you," Remus replied as he watched her long black braids swinging behind her as she melted into the shadows of the library.


	5. Chapter 5

Amy managed to avoid being cornered by anyone else until walking towards Herbology a few days later when Lily Evans finally caught up to her.

"Gotcha!" she cried triumphantly. "Hi Amy. I'm Lily."

"Believe me, I know," Amy muttered. "You're all James ever talks about."

She blushed a bit at that, but continued. "I actually wanted to talk to you about that," she admitted. "Why are you friends with Potter and Black of all people? I mean, Remus is alright and I don't really know Peter very well, but Potter and Black are vile."

"They aren't that bad," Amy said defensively. "They're good people, albeit a bit idiotic sometimes. But what fourteen year old boys aren't? You shouldn't be so hard on them."

Lily frowned. "They're rotten to Severus."

Amy shrugged. "I didn't say they were perfect. But they've always been very kind to me. They took me in under their wings second year. We've been friends ever since."

Lily appeared to be letting this information sink in when Amy spoke up again. "Listen, I've really got to be getting to class."

"See you around!" Lily said confidently with a wave and a kind smile that Amy found herself able to return. She could see why James was so obsessed with her. She was alright.

To Amy's ultimate shock, for the second time in one day, somebody caught her during Herbology. "Say, you're the girl Lily's been talking about, aren't you?"

Amy sighed and turned towards the voice to see a familiar cloud of greasy black hair framing black eyes and a hooked nose. Severus Snape, her best friends' arch nemesis. She really shouldn't be talking to him. "So what if I am?" she said defiantly as she could muster. Honestly, she wasn't in the mood.

He raised his hands defensively. "I'm just curious. I've noticed you hanging around Potter-" his lip curled as he said the name. "-and his little gang too."

"You have a problem with me then?" she asked, hands on her hips. Amy had no idea where her bravado was coming from. She'd never really spoken to anyone aside from her four friends before, and today she'd talked back to two strangers.

"No," Snape admitted. "You're never around when they…" He trailed off, his face reddening. When they bullied him, he meant.

Amy had long tried to get her two friends to lay off the poor greasy kid. Remus and Peter seemed content to just sit back and let it happen. It was a source of constant annoyance to Amy. She didn't think they should just sit there and let it slide. Every time she tried to get James and Sirius to leave Snape alone, they'd just laugh, and she'd vanish for a day or two, refusing to speak to the lot of them until they agreed to play nicely.

"I've tried to get them to stop," she said softly. "They won't listen to me."

Snape's eyes softened for just a moment before he looked away. "It doesn't matter really. But thank you."

"You're welcome," she repeated quietly.

"I forgot to ask. What's your name?" Snape looked at her beseechingly.  
"Amy," she half-smiled. "Amy Havens."

"Nice to meet you officially, Amy Havens," he said with a similar small smile, making Amy's smile grow. He didn't seem all that bad. What exactly was James' and Sirius' problem with him?


	6. Chapter 6

"Come on Eva, don't be like that," James joked out under the Marauders' favorite tree near the Black Lake. Amy had been trying to tell him to lay off Snape for the millionth time.

"What did you just call me?" she asked. The name Eva stirred a memory in her. "You've called me that before, on the day we first met! Who is Eva?" Amy demanded.

James' face paled. "It was a slip on the tongue. They sound kind of similar. Amy, Eva. Both start with the 'A' sound."

"You tell me right now, James Potter or I won't speak to you for a week," Amy threatened, her arms crossed over her chest.

He opened his mouth, shut it, and sighed. "Eva Potter was my cousin. You kind of remind me of her sometimes, alright?"

"Was?" Amy asked gently. "I'm so sorry, Jamesy. I didn't mean to bring up anything painful."

Her curiosity was burning within her, but Amy had learned to keep her mouth shut long ago and not let people know when she was curious. Exactly how much did she remind James of his dead cousin to make him call her by that name?

"S'okay," he mumbled.

"You coming to the Quidditch match tomorrow Amy?" Sirius said brightly to change the subject.

She bit her lip. "I don't know. A lot of people have been noticing me lately, and I really hate crowds…"

"You can sit with us in the stands!" Peter said enthusiastically. "Come on, it's Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, so you won't even have a hard time picking who to cheer for."

This was true. While she had friends on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, when Ravenclaw was playing, Amy had a divided sense of loyalty.

"I dunno guys…" Amy trailed off. She wanted to support her friends, especially because James and Sirius were so enthusiastic about all things Quidditch. And it would give her more of an opportunity to hang out with Remus, so… "Alright, fine. I'll go."

Her friends cheered and Sirius slapped her on the back. "That's my girl." She narrowed her eyes at him, making him laugh, nonplussed. She spent the rest of the time under the tree feeling distinctly disgruntled, and made a point to talk animatedly to Peter, who seemed surprised.

When the match rolled around, Amy was in the Gryffindor box with Peter and Remus, borrowing one of their scarves so she didn't stand out among all the gold and red supporters. All was well until about halfway through the match when Amy began to feel a bit funny. She blacked out a moment and when she came to, she felt completely different.

"COME ON YOU PRAT, DON'T DROP THE QUAFFLE!" she found herself shouting at the Gryffindor Chaser (not James) who'd just fumbled with the Quaffle, allowing Hufflepuff to score. Remus and Peter both looked at her, shocked. Amy had never raised her voice much further than a whisper before.

But for some reason, that didn't matter to her. Being seen or noticed didn't matter to her either. All that was important was that James and Sirius and Gryffindor win the match.

"GOOD ONE SIRIUS!" she hollered as he aimed a Bludger that nearly knocked a Hufflepuff player off his broom. He grinned at her, seeming a bit shell shocked.

Every time Hufflepuff scored, she booed. Every time Gryffindor scored, she cheered loudly. She'd yell out random commentary throughout the match, too. When the Gryffindor Seeker finally caught the Snitch, winning the game, Amy shouted herself hoarse, until she blacked out again, falling backwards over a bench.

"Amy!" she discerned Remus' concerned voice over the commotion. "Are you alright?"

"Dizzy," she murmured. "What happened?"

"I think you cheered yourself out," he said, still sounding concerned.

"I didn't know you were such a Quidditch fanatic, Amy," Peter added.

"Quidditch fanatic?" she asked confused. "What do you mean?"

"You were cheering really loudly. Yelling things at the players too. Don't you remember?" Remus sounded really concerned now.

"I don't-" Amy was cut off by the throng of students trying to flee the box and go party in the Gryffindor common room, no doubt.

She didn't understand what had just happened. She'd blacked out at the beginning of the match, and apparently had woken up at the end of the match with no idea what had happened. Had she really cheered her head off when she was passed out? How was that possible?


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm worried about Amy," Remus sighed as he, James, Sirius, and Peter were sitting in the Gryffindor common room after dinner about a week after the incident at the Quidditch match. "She said she blacked out at the beginning of the match and didn't remember anything until she blacked out again at the end."

Sirius agreed that something fishy was going on, but he had no idea what to do about it. "I'm sure she's fine," he said, his voice lacking its usual confidence. "All the excitement was probably too much for her."

"Aww, you know she's not that faint hearted," James put in. "But you're right, something is definitely off here."

"Maybe she was feeling ill?" Peter supplied unhelpfully.

"Well that much is obvious," Sirius muttered. "There has to be something we can do." He'd been flattered when Amy had been cheering him on during the match. It was upsetting to find out she didn't even remember it.

The four friends sat in silence, each wondering how to handle the present situation. It wasn't as if they'd never had problems with Amy before. She'd always been a bit odd. But nothing of this magnitude had ever happened before. The last time the four of them had been at a loss for what to do was when Amy disappeared for three weeks and none of them could find her familiar black braids sticking out anywhere. When she'd finally reappeared, she'd said that she'd been scouting out some secret passages, and she seemed confused that they were so worried about her. But this time was different, and Sirius could tell everyone else knew it too.

"I think we should just let it go for now," James finally broke the silence. "If we make too big a deal out of it, she might scamper off again for who knows how long this time."

"Sometimes I wonder why we put up with her," Peter muttered. Sirius used to wonder the same thing, the first year or so. Amy was a confusing little blighter, and she certainly complicated things, but now it was difficult to imagine Hogwarts without her.

"We put up with her because she's our friend," James said fiercely.

"We put up with her because she reminds you of Eva," Peter retorted.

Remus and I stared at him in shocked silence. Peter normally wasn't like this. And we thought he knew better than to even MENTION Eva. Anytime she was, James would be in a foul mood for days.

"That has nothing to do with this," James said with a voice infused with quiet anger.

"It has everything to do with this!" Peter squeaked. "She just makes our lives more difficult! Honestly James, Eva's dead, and Amy can't replace her. You need to move on!"

Although I did enjoy having Amy around, I agreed with Peter to a point. Recently James seemed to be having a more and more difficult time distinguishing between his dead cousin and their friend, who was very much alive, albeit odd. From what little Sirius knew about Eva, she and Amy shared nothing in common but looks. But James seemed to think that he had gotten his childhood best friend back.

At this point, James stomped up the stairs to their dormitory, muttering, "Don't understand...Amy...like Eva…"

"You shouldn't have pushed him, Peter," Remus said quietly. Sirius had nearly forgotten he was there, he'd been silent for a long while.

Peter trembled a bit but tried to hold his ground. "He needed to hear it."

Sirius couldn't disagree with that, but there had to have been a better way to go about it than what was done. "Speaking of Amy, has anyone seen her today?" he asked nonchalantly as possible.

Remus frowned. "No, actually. And she normally sits by me in Arithmancy. I don't think she was there today." Sirius digested this. The last time he had seen her was three days ago in Transfiguration. That was the only class they had together.

"Some has to have seen her...I mean honestly, where could she be?" Sirius asked before thinking about what he'd said. The castle was huge. She could be anywhere. She could be ill in the Hospital Wing or hiding out in Ravenclaw Tower or any number of places. She could even be exploring, though he doubted she'd miss class for that. Amy was as much a stickler for the rules as Remus was sometimes.

Sirius spent the rest of the night trying to concentrate on his Potions essay but finding it difficult to get Amy's hazel eyes and black braids out of his mind. Where was she?


	8. Chapter 8

Amy found herself in the secret passage leading to Honeydukes, confused. How had she gotten here? Well, she may as well get some candy before heading back to the castle. She loaded up several bulging bags of sweets, paid the woman behind the counter, and slipped back into the passageway.

She ran into Remus in the corridor not far from the passageway exit. "Amy! Where were you?" he exclaimed.

"Getting candy," she said casually. "Want some? I've got some of just about everything."

"Amy you skipped all of your classes today," Remus said, looking uncomfortable.

"I did?" she asked. Great. She'd blacked out again and missed something important. How would she explain this to her professors?

"Did you black out again?" There was a definite note of concern in Remus' voice.

Amy sighed. "Yes. I'm not sure when either. I just remember coming to in the passage to Honeydukes."

"Amy this is the second time this has happened in a week, you should go to the Hospital Wing." He sounded more concerned with every word he spoke.

"I know…but what could even be done to help me? I don't know why this is happening." Amy was getting worried too. It was scary waking up without any idea of what had happened.

Remus was thoughtful a moment. "You could go to Dumbledore. He might know what to do."

"Dumbledore?!" Amy was alarmed. "No, it's not that serious. I'm not going to bother him with this."

"If you're sure…Dumbledore is a great man. He helps me a lot with—you know."

"I know he does. But I think I can handle this on my own for now. Thanks for caring though Remus." Amy blushed. It meant a lot that he was the one trying to look out for her. Usually that was James.

"Of course I care," he said quietly. "We all do."

Shoot. Everyone else would be worrying too. She better go find everyone and explain where she was before James blew a gasket. But first… "I need to go talk to my professors and tell them I was ill. Will you tell everyone I'm okay? Here, take some of this candy to give to them. I doubt it'll help any but it's worth a shot."


	9. Chapter 9

Sirius, James, and Peter all sat in the Common Room anxiously when Remus came skittering into through the portrait hole. "I found her!"

Suddenly everyone started talking over each other. "Where was she?" "Oh thank Merlin." "Is she okay?"

"She blacked out again and woke up in the Honeydukes secret passage," Remus explained. "I'm worried about her. This is the second black out in a week."

"Why didn't she come see us?" James asked crossly.

Sirius wondered the same thing. She just happened to run into Remus? Jealousy tightened the pit of his stomach.

"She wanted to go explain to her professors," Remus said. "She told me to make sure you all knew she was alright."

"Well we need to find her anyway," James said. "We need more Animagus practice."

Remus sighed. "I told you before that it's dangerous and I'm not worth it."

"Shush," Sirius said, putting a hand over his friend's mouth. "We've heard it a thousand times. We're doing it."

Releasing his hand, Remus gave him a pointed look. "Well if you insist, she'll probably find us at dinner."

Sure enough, Amy popped up behind them during pudding. Peter nearly dropped his cake when he caught sight of her. At this point, Sirius was used to her sudden appearances. James turned around and grabbed her around the middle, making her laugh in protest. "James, what're you-"

"Don't scare me like that again," he scolded, attempting a playful tone that had a current of worry running through it.

"Sorry James," she said quietly, looking down."

Sirius felt that the mood was quite serious enough and wanted to change the subject. "We were looking for you so we could practice Transfiguration," he said meaningfully. That was their code phrase for working on becoming Animagi.

Amy's eyes lit up in an unfamiliar way. "Brilliant. Let's go."

"Right now?" Peter whined. "I'm not done with this yet."

She gave him an uncharacteristically sharp look before flouncing off as if daring us to follow her. The boys all exchanged glances. Amy was acting strange but figured they'd better follow her and scrambled over the benches. "Wait up!"

She grinned once everyone caught up with her. "Took you all long enough."

"You're surprisingly fast," Sirius said dryly. "Where do we want to do this?"

"The roomy passage behind the mirror of course," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Can't really do it anywhere else unless we wanted to go to the Shrieking Shack."

"Let's not," Remus said quickly. He hated being reminded of the Shrieking Shack and his ordeal every month. Personally, Sirius thought being a werewolf would be fun. He hoped he got to be a cool animal once they figured this out.

"Alright," James said all business for once. "I've mostly figured this out. We need to focus hard on what kind of animal we want to be while saying the incantation in this book."

Everyone but Remus peered intently at the book. "Piece of cake," Amy said in a surprisingly confident voice. She went off into a corner and screwed up her face in concentration. James and Sirius did the same. Peter stared at the book longer with a look of fear on his face. He'd always been the most scared of doing this because of the chances of it going wrong. Thank goodness James and Sirius were the best Transfiguration students in the school. Amy wasn't far behind them but Peter…he needed a lot of help.

Amy changed first. Her eyes narrowed to hazel slits that glowed in the dim passage and then she promptly shrunk into a…cat? No, not a cat. A spotted lynx. She scampered around the room twice before changing back into herself. "Well, what do you think?"

"Brilliant!" James said. "What made you think lynx?"

Amy shrugged. "It's big enough that it could probably tackle a werewolf if necessary."

That was why Sirius wanted to be a dog. He concentrated harder and succeeded. When he changed back to a human he looked very pleased with himself. James transformed into a stag soon after Sirius but Peter still looked apprehensive.

Sirius rolled his eyes and went over to help him. When he transformed, everyone looked at him in surprise. "A rat?"

"It's small enough to get to the knot on the Whomping Willow," he said defensively. "The rest of you are too big for that."

His logic made sense but Sirius had to suppress a snigger thinking of his friend as a rat.

"We need nicknames," James announced. "That correspond with our Animagi forms."

"I don't have an Animagi form," Remus pointed out.

"But you do turn into an animal," Peter said.

"Moony," Amy piped up. "Because of the full moon."

He looked thoughtful. "I suppose that's better than Wolfy. What about you?"

"Nighteyes," James said. "Because they glow in the dark."

Amy looked pleased with her nickname. "Then you're Prongs because of the antlers."

"Sirius can be Padfoot because he has big paw pads," Remus offered.

Sirius felt left out of the conversation. "Well then Peter should be Wormtail."

"That's a terrible name," Peter huffed.

"Would you rather be Ratface?"

"Wormtail is fine," he said quickly.

"Alright then," James said. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Nighteyes. We can put these names on the Map!"

They all chattered excitedly. The map was only missing the title page and the enchantment that made it unreadable to everyone else.

Remus looked overwhelmed. "I can't believe you did this all for me."

"Of course we did," Amy said quietly, seeming more like herself again. "You're our friend."

She hugged him and since Sirius wasn't about to let the girl he fancied have a moment with his mate, he yelled "Group hug!" and everyone joined in.


	10. Chapter 10

Amy had been feeling strange for the past few weeks. Her blackouts were melding seamlessly into her life. She'd just accepted that sometimes she'd be halfway through saying something and realize it was something she'd never normally say and not being sure how she'd gotten there. To keep her friends from worrying, she didn't say anything about it, but they weren't stupid. They noticed her erratic behavior but didn't say anything. At least to her face.

Last night had been the full moon and she hadn't remembered any of it, though James' and Sirius' happy chattering about their exploits indicated that she was present. From what Amy gathered, she was a lot more outgoing during her blackouts. Was this what she was like before being Obliviated? Was she somehow overcoming the extremely powerful Memory Charm? It didn't seem likely but she couldn't think of a more plausible explanation. She couldn't exactly ask her friends about it either. She didn't want to worry them.

She pondered all of this while sitting with her friends underneath their favorite tree by the Black Lake.

"Cat got your tongue?" Sirius teased.

Amy shot him a look but tightened her arms wrapped around her knees.

Sirius sighed. "I swear Nighteyes, lately you've been so much more fun to be around but now you're just mopey."

"More fun to be around?" she whispered. Was he talking about the way she was during her blackouts? But that wasn't her! This—being quiet—was the real her. It was how she'd been since they all met her in second year.

"That wasn't nice Padfoot," Remus said warningly. "Nighteyes has always been quiet."

Amy felt a wave of gratitude towards Remus and something akin to hatred towards Sirius. She'd never felt such strong emotions in her life—at least as far as she could remember. She stood up. "You're a complete git Sirius Black."

He strode towards her and tried to grab her arm, apologies in his eyes, but her eyes flashed and she physically pushed him off of her before disappearing.

"Way to go idiot," James snarled. "What'd you have to say that for?"

"Come on Prongs," Sirius tried to explain himself. "You know she's been different lately. Fun. Outgoing. More flirty."

At the word flirty Remus almost choked on the water from his flask.

"That's true," Peter piped up. "Mostly. Sometimes she's still the same old Amy."

"What's wrong with the old Amy?" Remus asked defensively. He'd always gotten on better with Amy than the others had until she started acting strangely.

"Nothing," said James quickly. "It's just a nice change, that's all."

Remus thought that James only liked the new Amy because she was more like his cousin but he wasn't about to say that.

James seemed to tell that's what his friend was thinking though because he opened his mouth angrily. "Moony, it's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

"It's just…okay FINE she reminds me more of Eva when she's like this," James admitted.

"James," Sirius said gently, jumping back into the conversation. "You know your cousin is dead."

"I know," he snapped. "I just miss her, okay?"

"Still?" Peter asked.

Everyone else glared at him and he quailed under their dark looks.

"Yes, still," James said softly. "She was my best friend my whole childhood. We were planning on being Gryffindors together."

"I'm sorry mate," Sirius said.

"Me too. But pretending Amy is Eva won't bring her back," Remus said as kindly as he could.

James deflated. "I know."

Eva had been battling with Amy for the past month. It was so frustrating being stuck in that quiet little head. She wanted to be larger than life. She wanted to tell everyone who she really was. She wanted to goof off with her cousin, flirt with Sirius, and give the world a piece of her mind. Amy's defenses were getting weaker. Eva was breaking through for longer every time. She couldn't hold on much longer. Success! Eva took the reins. Now she had to go find her boys and tell them the truth.

"Oi! Padfoot!" Eva hollered. She was rapidly approaching the boys in the Charms corridor the next day. Classes were out and they appeared to be headed outside.

"Hey Nighteyes," he said guiltily. "You aren't still mad at me, are you?"

"Nah," she said with a dismissive shake of her head.

"I'm glad you're alright Amy," Remus said.

The remaining scrap of Amy still in Eva's subconscious flushed at Remus' warm tone. Eva, however, ignored it. "I'm not Amy."

"Not Amy?" Peter asked, confused. "You look like Amy."

"Amy's gone," Eva rolled her eyes. "I'm Eva. Eva Potter."

James' jaw dropped and the others turned to look at him. "You…you can't be serious."

"Of course I'm not Sirius. That's Sirius," Eva said, pointing.

"Not the time for jokes," Sirius muttered, even though that one never got old.

"Are you really…how can you be…Eva's dead," James said flatly.

"I'm not dead," Eva insisted. "I was Obliviated."

"Amy was Obliviated," Remus said suspiciously.

"Of course she was," Eva said impatiently. "She was me. I was her. Oh, it's confusing. Point is, I'm back."

"What's your favorite color?" James asked.

"Electric blue."

"Wrong," Remus said. Amy's favorite color was lilac.

James pressed on. "Favorite Quidditch team?"

"Holyhead Harpies."

Wrong again, Amy didn't like Quidditch.

"Who are your parents?"

"Poppy and Marius Potter."

Amy didn't know who her parents were.

"What's your middle name?"

"Marie."

Amy didn't have a middle name.

James didn't meet Amy's—Eva's?—eyes. "Let me confer a moment."

She stood there, arms crossed, tapping her foot. James leaned close to the rest of the gang. "Those answers were all correct."

"Not for Amy they weren't," Remus said stubbornly.

"Get with the program Moony! Those were Eva's answers."

"How is that even possible?" Peter whispered. "Eva died."

"Eva disappeared," Sirius mused. "Everyone assumed she died because she was ten."

"How can this be Eva?" James muttered. "How could this happen?"

"We need to take her to Dumbledore," Remus said. "He'll know what to do."

Everyone agreed. If Dumbledore couldn't fix this, no one could.


	11. Chapter 11

If Amy was Eva…Remus didn't want to think what this meant. Was the Amy he cared so much about gone? Was she replaced by the more outgoing Eva personality? Remus had always related more to Amy than the others even though they were good friends. If Eva was who Amy was during her blackouts, she was much more like James and Sirius than Remus.

Remus glanced over at "Eva" as they walked to the Headmaster's office. She held herself with a lot more confidence than Amy had, looking people in the eyes when she spoke. And boy, did she speak. While the rest of them were silent, Eva was going on about odds on the next Quidditch match. That was definitely not something Amy would do. She hadn't even gone to a Quidditch match before this year. That was the first time she blacked out…

He spared "Eva" another look. She was gesticulating with her hands and smiling as she talked. She had a nice smile. Amy's smile, which didn't manifest itself very often. Amy usually just sat back and one side of her mouth quirked up when she was amused.

"Oh, what's the password?" James hissed at Remus when they reached the stone gargoyle.

"Let me think…Coconut Ice!" The stairway began twisting of its own accord and they all hopped on.

"Professor Dumbledore!" everyone but "Eva" called out at once. He looked up, not seeming incredibly surprised to see them. Everyone talked at once.

"Amy's been blacking out-"

"-like she was a different person-"

"She says she's Eva-"

"Eva's dead-"

"They don't believe me, Professor-"

Dumbledore quelled them all with a look. "I am well aware of Eva Potter's disappearance and the circumstances regarding Miss Havens' Obliviation. I was the one who found her and brought her to safety. The Memory Charm had already been performed on her and she had no idea who she was. I was the one who suggested she go by Amy Havens when she came to Hogwarts. She couldn't very well come here nameless."

"Professor, it is possible that she is Eva?" James said in an anxious whisper, not daring to believe it.

Professor Dumbledore looked at him thoughtfully. "It is possible. In fact, I'd say it is probable."

"How long have you known?" Sirius shot out angrily. "The Potters have agonized over this for four years!"

"Mr. Black, I don't know for sure. I have a shrewd idea. But my shrewd ideas usually turn out to be correct."

"How did she have two different personalities?" Peter asked.

"Is Amy still in there?" Remus asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Amy became the dominant personality because Eva—if this is Eva—was wiped out by that Memory Charm. Something had to fill the space because unless you've had your soul sucked out by a dementor, you have to have a personality of some sort inside you. Somehow, the Eva personality has been bleeding through the Memory Charm and overpowering the Amy personality," Dumbledore mused.

"Well what do we do with her?" James asked. "If she isn't actually my cousin but thinks she is, I can't let her near my family and get their hopes up!" he said in an undertone to Dumbledore so she couldn't hear.

"I'm standing right here," Eva fumed. "You don't have to 'do' anything with me. I'm perfectly fine."

Dumbledore peered down his half-moon spectacles at Eva. "Well, Miss Potter, I suppose you just go about your day to day activities until we figure out an appropriate course of action."

"You're giving in to her delusion?" Peter said angrily. "We aren't even sure she's actually Eva!"

"Mr. Pettigrew, right now she believes she is Eva Potter. It is best to just let it be until further action can be taken."

"I don't belong in Ravenclaw, sir," Eva said. "I'm a completely different person than Amy. Can I please try the Sorting Hat again?"

Dumbledore looked slightly taken aback before settling into his usual expression. "Well, we've never had an inter-House transfer before, but we could see what the hat has to say."

He pulled the hat from the shelf and placed it on Eva's head. It seemed to deliberate a moment before shouting "GRYFFINDOR."

Eva pulled the hat off her head, pleased. "Alright, which of you wants to show me to my dorm?"

All of them stared at her, open-mouthed. Remus guessed she really could be Eva Potter. Amy wouldn't have ever ended up in Gryffindor. The thought made him oddly sad.


	12. Chapter 12

"How are we going to explain this to the other Gryffindors?" Sirius hissed under his breath as Eva was chatting animatedly with Peter, who looked slightly alarmed.

"Well hardly anyone knows who she is," Remus said logically. "We can just say she used to go to a different school or was homeschooled before this and there were special circumstances."

"What about Evans?" James said dully. He still wasn't sure what to believe. He wanted to be ecstatic that Eva was truly back but he didn't want to get his hopes up in case she wasn't and it was some sort of cruel trick. "She knows who Amy is."

That was an excellent question. Sirius wasn't quite sure how to answer it. His head was still swimming as well, though probably not as much as James'. Eva Potter. The more outgoing personality that shown through during Amy's blackouts. He'd already fancied Amy, but now…Eva was so much more his speed. She actually flirted with him, too. The only one who seemed to really care about the old Amy was Remus…

"We'll come up with something, Prongs," Remus said with a cheeriness he did not feel. "You and Padfoot are the masters of coming up with things on the spot."

"It's nearly the end of term," Sirius said. "That'll make an explanation harder overall."

"Oh Merlin, what are we going to tell my family? She's going to want to go home for the summer holidays," James moaned. "Do you reckon Dumbledore will write and explain things? If I do it they might think I'm messing around."

"She'll be in Evans' dormitory," Sirius said. "I can distract Nighteyes while you tell Evans what is going on."

James looked unusually reluctant about the opportunity to talk to his lady love. "Oh alright then. Make sure to give me enough time."

Just then they all approached the portrait hole. Sirius darted ahead. "Oi! Nighteyes!"

"What?" She turned with her hands on her hips. Sirius began his distraction and James headed over to where Evans was perched on an armchair by the fire working on what appeared to be a Potions essay.

"Hey Evans," James said, attempting his usual bravado.

Lily sighed. "What do you want, Potter?"

"This is actually serious," he said lowering his voice. "It's about Amy."

"Is she alright?" Lily asked, the venom in her voice replaced by genuine concern.

"Sort of. See, she thinks she's actually my cousin Eva that we all thought was dead. Different personality and everything. Dumbledore even let her use the Sorting Hat again and it sorted her into Gryffindor. We don't know how to explain all of this to everyone so we're just going to say she was homeschooled before this and special circumstances were made, but we need you to cover for her if anyone asks and pretend that you never knew there was an Amy. So few people knew who she was anyway but you're one of them and I—she—really needs your help."

Lily was momentarily speechless before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You sure this isn't some elaborate practical joke?"

James shook his head mournfully. "I wouldn't joke about something like this."

Lily had to admit he looked more serious than she'd ever seen him. "Alright Potter, what do you need me to do?"

"Show her to your dormitory. Smooth over the explanation with the other girls. Please," James added as an afterthought.

Lily was surprised by the "please" but acquitted. "Consider it done."

"Thanks Evans," James said fervently. "Oh look, here she comes now." Sure enough, Sirius' distracting skills had reached their limit and Eva was marching over to them.

"Hey Lily," Eva said with a smile. "Care to show me to our dormitory?"

"Yeah, let me grab my things," Lily said as she swept her essay supplies into a bag.

The two girls' talk continued up the stairs and faded as they disappeared out of sight.

"That Eva's a firecracker, Prongs," Sirius said. "I couldn't hold her attention any longer."

"No worries mate, I still got the point across in time."

"It's going to be strange having her in Gryffindor," Peter said. "She'll be in so many more of our classes now."

They all exchanged glances. Apparently, none of the others had thought of that.

"We'll be seeing a lot more of her, I expect," Sirius said. Remus wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. James appeared to be in the same boat. Everything was about to change and none of them were sure how to feel about it yet.


	13. Chapter 13

Eva quickly transitioned into life as a Gryffindor. She goofed off with James and Sirius in class while still making great grades. She cheered raucously at the last Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor against Slytherin (Gryffindor won). She was on pretty good terms with Lily and the other girls in her dorm, Alice and Marleen, though Lily still didn't approve of Eva's friends. Eva even landed in her first ever detention because she was laughing too hard in class when Peter had turned his porcupine into a prickly-looking hat instead of a pincushion and Sirius had put it on his head and struck a pose.

The only two things that concerned her were how withdrawn Remus was these days and what she was going to do over the summer. She wasn't stupid. She'd heard them whispering enough to know that James was reluctant to take her home because of how her parents would react if she wasn't actually Eva. James finally seemed to believe her though and they had quickly fallen into their old pattern from before Hogwarts.

Eva wished she could explain that she didn't know what had happened to her, just that Amy's false personality hadn't been strong enough to hold back the real Eva from leaking through. The Memory Charm was still intact. Eva had no clue why it had been put on her; she only had her memories of Eva before whatever had happened. She also had Amy's memories of Hogwarts still in there. Amy had fancied Remus. Eva supposed the two's personalities had meshed better then. Remus seemed downright miserable these days. Was he upset that Eva had broken through? The thought made Eva unexpectedly sad. She may not fancy Remus, but he was still her friend. She made up her mind to go talk to him and try to figure out what was eating him.

"Hey Moony," she said flopping down next to him in the library as he studied for exams. James and Sirius were off torturing Snape somewhere—something she still didn't approve of much, mainly because of Lily—and she had no clue what Peter was up to.

"Wha—oh hi, Nighteyes. What's new?"

"I'm worried about you, but that isn't completely new," Eva responded.

"What's there to worry about?" Remus said sarcastically. "It's not like the full moon is happening right after term ends and I'll be dealing with it alone for the first time in months."

Eva hadn't even thought of that. "Is that why you've been like a turtle in its shell the past few weeks? I thought it was me."

"You?"

"I thought you didn't like having me around," Eva confessed in a rare moment of seriousness.

Remus finally looked her in the face. "Of course I like having you around. You're different from Amy, but you're still good to have around. Promise."

Eva relaxed fractionally. "Then I don't bother you?"

"No," Remus said truthfully. It wasn't Eva's fault that Amy was gone. Amy had never really existed in the first place. "I just sometimes feel like an extra wheel now that you're most buddy-buddy with James and Sirius. That's all."

"Well that's stupid," Eva said. "You're as much a part of the Marauders as we are. More than I am, probably, because you've been around longer. We all care about you."

Remus offered her a wry smile. "If you say so, Nighteyes. I really better study for the Potions final. I've never been all that great at Potions."

Feeling that she needed to be a better friend, Eva said, "Here, let me quiz you."

Remus looked surprised but gratified. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Eva smiled. "That's what friends are for."

"Eva," James began as they all clambered onto the Hogwarts Express at the end of term. "Would you like to come home with me?"

She looked up in surprise. "Really? You want me to come with you?"

"I think it'd be best if you stayed at my parents' house until we figure out how to tell your parents," he said. "But you shouldn't have to go to that Muggle orphanage you've been staying at when you've got family."

"What should I say?" she asked, suddenly nervous. "Should I pretend to be Amy or just be myself right off?"

"Be yourself," James said. "I've already written my parents and explained. They said they wouldn't tell your mum and dad until you were back with us."

Her parents. Eva hadn't seen her parents since she was ten years old. Her birthday was at the very end of August. She'd barely made the cut off for attending Hogwarts the same year as James.

"Eva, stay away from the woods darling!" her mother's voice called from the house. "Alright Mum!" Eva called, with no intention of following her mother's advice. She wanted to know what was in the woods behind her house. They were mysterious and seemed to call to her. "Eva!" her mother called again.

"Eva!" Sirius' voice shook her from her reverie. "You alright? We've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes."

"Got lost in thought I suppose," she said, trying to hide her shaking. That memory was new. She was ten in the memory but it wasn't familiar like all her other ten-year-old exploits. Was it something breaking free from the Memory Charm? If so, was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"Well I asked if you wanted my Chocolate Frog card. I've got four Merlins already," Sirius said.

"Yeah that'd be great, thanks Padfoot," she said, automatically reaching out for the card. "Chuck me one of those pumpkin pasties, will you Moony?" The whole pile of sweets James and Sirius had bought was closest to Remus.

He complied, mouth full of licorice wand. "Here," he said thickly.

"Thanks," she said, stuffing the pasty into her own mouth.

They all continued to eat their way through the stash until the train pulled up to King's Cross Station.

"I'll miss you lot this summer," Remus said. "I'll try to convince my parents to let me come visit."

"Do," James said. "And if you can't manage that, write."

"Same goes for you two," Eva said to Sirius and Peter. "Come visit any time. I'm sure I'll be bored to death with just Prongs for company."

"Oi!" James protested. "Not nice, Nighteyes."

She stuck her tongue out at him before grinning and giving a hug to each of her friends in turn before she and James waved goodbye to them and heaved their trunks towards James' parents.

"Eva?" Mary Potter whispered.

"Hi Aunt Mary," Eva said somewhat shyly just before her aunt crushed her in a hug.

"Oh, we never thought we'd see you again," Mary's voice shook. "You've grown up so much."

Eva wasn't sure what to say and was spared from speaking by being similarly hugged by her uncle Robert, her father's brother. "Hey kiddo," he said softly. He'd always called her that.

She was quite overwhelmed just by meeting her aunt and uncle for the first time in four years. What was she going to do when she saw her parents?

James seemed to sense her discomfort and extricated her from the hug. "Come on, Nighteyes. Let's take you home."


	14. Chapter 14

The first month of the summer holidays passed without incident. Eva still hadn't met her parents because none of them could figure out the best way to do it, not for lack of trying. There just didn't seem to be a best way to throw someone's long-lost daughter at them. So Eva and James largely spent their days playing one-on-one Quidditch in the yard, with Eva on James' old broom. They also played an awful lot of Exploding Snap. Eva also bombarded the rest of her friends with letters every day—Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Peter wasn't really one for writing, but she got replies from everyone else semi-regularly.

Lily was having problems with her sister so she was spending a lot of time out of the house with Snape, of all people. Sirius was complaining about being stuck in his family's dreary house with all their pureblood mania. Remus was spending most of his time working on summer homework and being bored. Sirius and Remus wrote most often. Eva had their letters saved in the spare bedroom she was currently living in.

"Jamesy I'm booooored," Eva moaned. She was hanging upside down on the sofa after they had finished yet another game of Exploding Snap. "We've been doing this for a month solid. I want to DO something."

"Well what do you want to DO?" he said, mocking her tone.

She shot him a withering look. "None of our friends have come to stay yet."

James shrugged. "Maybe they can't. Maybe they're busy."

Eva moaned again and covered her face with her arms. She hated feeling this restless. There was only so much to do at the Potter house and they'd already done most of it several times.

"Why don't we go to the Muggle cinema?" James suggested. He'd become a lot more interested in Muggle things since taking Muggle Studies (mostly to impress Lily Evans). "I have some Muggle money."

"Where did you get Muggle money?" Eva asked curiously as she sat up.

"Never you mind," James said. "Do you want to go or not?"

"Alright, keep your shirt on," Eva said crossly. "We need to clear it with your mum and dad."

"They're not home," James said. "We can do whatever we like."

Eva shrugged. "Alright, where is the nearest Muggle cinema?"

"Not too far from here," James said. "I've seen it a few times in town when Mum drags me shopping."

They headed out down the road and eventually found it. "It's playing something called Robin Hood. Can robins wear hoods?" Eva asked.

"Dunno, but it's worth checking out," James said.

So they did and were both amazed. Walking out of the theater they chattered excitedly. "Wow, I've never seen anything like that!" "The animals could talk!" "That Robin Hood was fantastic."

"We need to show our friends," Eva concluded. "They'll love it."

"I'm sure Remus already has," James said. "His mother's a Muggle."

"Well I want to tell him about it anyway," she said as she flounced up the stairs to her room. She sent four separate letters to her friends, detailing the excitement of Robin Hood.

Lily replied first. Dear Eva, Isn't it great? I've already seen it three times. Petunia actually came with me. I love Disney films. That's the company that made Robin Hood. They make a lot of cartoon movies. If you're ever in the area, you should come over and watch the Disney tapes I have at home. Tapes are a Muggle thing but I'm sure you'd enjoy it. Love, Lily."

James snatched the letter from Eva the moment she'd finished reading it. "How come Evans likes you, eh?"

"Maybe because I don't' bully her best friend," Eva retorted, grabbing her letter back.

"Snivellus is asking for it," James said dismissively. "Anyway, want to play another game of Exploding Snap?"

Eva sighed. "Sure thing, Prongs."


	15. Chapter 15

It was the last week of summer and Eva and James had done everything they could possibly do. The boredom was even worse. They were sitting in James' room on the floor, eating a big box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. "You still haven't seen your parents," James said.

Eva sighed. "I know, but what am I supposed to do? Tell them I was Obliviated and that I've been hiding here all summer? I should really just wait until—"

"Until what? It isn't going to get any easier you know."

Eva was frustrated. "Well then, what do you want me to do? Just turn up on their doorstep? I'd probably give them both a heart attack!"

"I dunno, but you should do something," James said.

Eva rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get some pumpkin juice. Want any?"

"Sure," James said, wrinkling his nose in disgust, for he had just eaten a sprouts flavored bean.

Eva hopped down the stairs, trying to use some of her pent-up energy and stopped cold when she reached the bottom. Her parents were standing in the doorway.

"Poppy! Marius!" Aunt Mary cried. "What a surprise!"

"Sorry to intrude, Mary," her father's soft voice said. "We just wanted to say hello."

"You're not intruding." Aunt Mary glanced at the stairs where Eva was standing and bit her lip. "James just has a friend staying with us who can be kind of loud. You know how he is."

Eva wanted to run back up the stairs but something glued her to the spot. Her mother looked so thin. Her father had worry lines etched across his face. Were these changes in appearance because of her? Guilt washed over her and she wondered how she could possibly keep the truth from them any longer when they were obviously suffering. She just didn't know how to get the words out properly when there was so much she didn't understand herself.

Suddenly, a familiar sensation crept up and she thought desperately, "Not now!" but it was too late. Eva had sneezed loudly enough to make her mother look round for the source of the noise. Her mother's tired blue eyes settled on her and was thunderstruck. Eva froze even more. "Eva?" Poppy Potter whispered.

"Um, hi," Eva said. "I was just getting pumpkin juice." Stupid! That was all she could think to say after not seeing her family for four years?

"Is it really you?" her father choked. He had turned, startled, when his wife said their daughter's name. Eva was rarely spoken of in their house.

Aunt Mary was slowly backing away into the kitchen to give them privacy, but Eva wished she would stay. She needed moral support. "It's me," Eva managed to get out. "But I can explai—" No explanation was necessary because her mother was cutting off her circulation with a tight hug.

"Can't—breathe—Mum," she gasped. Her mother's hold lessened fractionally.

"Oh my baby, what happened to you?"

Eva took in a deep breath and then spoke very fast. "I was Obliviated and couldn't remember anything about who I was so I was told my name was Amy and was in Ravenclaw and stayed in a Muggle orphanage during the summers and had a different personality but in second year James found me and wanted to be friends because I reminded him of me, yeah confusing, I know, and then this past year I remembered who I was but I still can't remember why I was Obliviated in the first place and I came here for the summer instead of the orphanage because James insisted but we were still trying to figure out how to tell you all of this." Now Eva was crying. "I missed you both so much!"

Her father joined the hug at this point and all were a sobbing heap. At this point, James came down the stairs to see what was taking Eva so long with the pumpkin juice and froze when he saw the pile of Potters at the base of the stairs.

"James!" Marius cried. "You brought Eva back to us! How can we thank you?"

James was pulled into the hug and said in a muffled voice, "No need for thanks. I'm just glad she's back."

"Mary," Poppy spoke up. "I know Eva's been staying here, but I'd like to take her home for the last week of the holidays."

"Of course," Aunt Mary said. "I'd expect nothing less."

Eva felt a swoop of excitement in her stomach. She was going home. She shot a grin at James. "I guess I'll be seeing you on the Hogwarts Express."

He grinned back. "I suppose we can get our pumpkin juice then."

Aunt Mary magically packed Eva's trunk and levitated it down the stairs. Eva hugged her aunt and whispered in her ear, "Thanks for everything."

"Anytime, dear," Aunt Mary said with a smile.

"Bye Jamesy!" Eva called with a wave as her parents grabbed her arm and Disapparated.

Eva looked around her old house in awe. Everything was exactly as she remembered it. "I'm going to take this up to my room," she said, dragging her trunk up the stairs as quickly as she could manage it. She found it easily, since the door had big sparkly silver letters spelling out "Eva."

Opening the door with a mixed sense of apprehension and excitement, Eva found the room of her 10 year old self. The walls were painted deep blue and had posters of Puddlemere United all over them. Her bedspread had little blue flowers on them—that would have to go—and there were Martin Miggs comics in stacks all over the floor. She sighed contentedly. She was home.


	16. Chapter 16

"Bye Mum! Bye Dad!" Eva said, her voice clogged with emotion. She'd only had a week with them and now it was back to Hogwarts. They'd gone to Diagon Alley a few days previously to get her new books and robes fitted, which was fun, because Eva had never had the chance to go with her parents before her first year at Hogwarts before she was Obliviated.

"We'll write you all the time," her mother promised with tears in her eyes as she brought Eva close for one last hug. Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it before Eva trotted onto the train to find her friends.

It took less than two minutes to find them because she could hear James' and Sirius' exasperated voices above the din. "Shove off, Snivellus." Oh dear. Confrontation so soon. Term hadn't even started yet!

"Leave him alone!" That was Lily's voice. Remus and Peter either weren't on the train yet or weren't participating.

"What's this?" Eva said, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Nighteyes!" Sirius said with delight before once again narrowing his eyes at Snape.

"He tried to hex me," James said heatedly.

"After you hexed him first!" Lily said angrily. "What is your problem, Potter?"

"Snivellus is my problem," James growled. "I don't know why you even hang out with him."

"That's none of your concern," Lily sniffed. "Come on, Sev, let's go." She spared Eva a glance on the way to a different compartment. "Hi Eva."

"Hi Lily. Sorry these two are being idiots," Eva said.

"Oi!" James and Sirius complained. Lily just nodded and stalked away, Snape on her heels.

"What'd you have to make me look bad in front of Evans for?" James complained.

"You were doing that perfectly well on your own," Eva huffed. "Honestly, hexing her best friend right in front of her. What were you thinking?"

"I didn't know she was there," James said defensively. "She popped up out of nowhere."

Eva shook her head. "You're hopeless, Prongs."

He lapsed into sullen silence and chewed on his licorice wand.

"Have a nice summer Remus?" Eva said. "You should have come visit."

Remus answered from where he was quietly reading in the corner. "It was alright, I guess. Just glad to be going back to Hogwarts. You?"

"Well, I went home with my parents last week and it went better than expected, but I told you about that in my letter."

The train started moving just then and Peter came into the compartment, wheezing. "Barely made it," he squeaked.

"Wormtail! You look like you're about to fall over," Eva scolded before tossing him a Chocolate Frog. "Here, this should help revitalize you."

"Thanks Nighteyes," he said around a mouthful of chocolate.

Remus looked pale—the full moon was probably approaching. Sirius seemed tense but was handsome as ever. James was still sulking. Peter was munching happily on his chocolate, unaware of Eva's scrutiny. Her friends. Her weird, wonderful friends. She felt a rush of affection towards all of them, but especially Sirius. He was definitely looking good.

Eva suddenly felt the need to fix her hair and straighten her collar even though Sirius wasn't looking at her. Did she fancy Sirius? It seemed ridiculous, but the only possibility to explain her strange behavior. Fantastic. James would blow a gasket if he knew.

"Penny for your thoughts," Remus said. Apparently discussion had erupted around them but Eva wasn't paying a bit of attention. Suddenly all eyes were on her.

"Just wondering what they'll have at the feast," Eva lied on the spot.

"Mmmm the feast," Peter said dreamily and they all began to talk of food.

"I know that's not really what's on your mind," Remus said in an undertone. "But I won't pry. Just know I'm here for you, alright?"

"Thanks Moony but I think I'll be fine," Eva said. She did NOT want to discuss her feelings with Remus Lupin. Especially since the part of her that was still Amy had feelings for him that had been quashed under Eva's more forceful personality.

He seemed unconvinced but let it drop. That was one of the nice things about Remus; he rarely pushed things.

"O.W.L. year," Sirius said, snapping Eva out of her reverie. "Reckon it'll be much different?"

"O.W.L. year is miserable from what I've heard," Peter said nervously.

"Aw, that's only for dumb people," James said. "We'll do fine."

Peter still seemed nervous. He had always struggled the most with school out of their group.

"I just hope I don't lose my head during exams," Eva said. "Our futures depend on these. Any idea what you lot want to do after school?"

"No idea," Sirius said.

"Why work when I don't need to? I've got plenty to provide for myself and a family if I ever have one," James said.

"If you ever convince Evans to go out with you, you mean," Sirius said, earning a scowl and a cuff on the head from James.

"What about you, Moony?"

Remus was reluctant to answer. "I don't know anyone who would hire me under the circumstances."

Everyone began arguing against this. "You're brilliant!" "People would have to be stupid not to hire you." "Your furry little problem doesn't affect your ability to do a job." "That's ridiculous."

Remus smiled slightly at his friends' support before turning the subject to Eva. "What do you want to do?"

She hadn't thought about it much. "I suppose I'd fancy being a Healer but that's an awful lot of work, isn't it?"

"I think you'd be a brilliant Healer," Remus said with a genuine smile this time.

She flushed a little at the praise. "Thanks Moony."

"You're welcome."

After this, the topic turned to Quidditch. "Think you'll try out this year, Nighteyes?"

Eva had considered it, which was why she brought the new broom her parents' bought her a few days ago with her. "I don't know what position I'd try out for."

All sorts of suggestions were tossed out. "Keeper?" "Seeker?" "Chaser?"

"I could probably do Chaser," she said.

"Well you are related to me," James said cockily. "Quidditch talent runs in the family."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Well Mr. Quidditch Captain," she began, since James had gotten the letter not long before the end of summer. "You'll just have to see how I compare to others."

"Hey, you didn't tell me you were Quidditch Captain," Remus said. "You get to use the prefects' bathroom."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were a prefect," Sirius piped up. "Blimey, you aren't going to give us detention, are you?"

Remus shrugged noncommittally. "We'll see."

Suddenly everyone laughed, because the idea of Remus giving his best friends detention seemed absurd.

"Alright, we should probably get changed," Peter said. "We're almost at the castle."

Sure enough, Hogwarts loomed before them. Eva sighed contentedly. It was nice to be back.


	17. Chapter 17

A month into the term there had already been a serious of unfortunate incidents involving some of Snape's friends and what appeared to be Dark magic. The Gryffindors were incensed and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were wary.

"How can she even be friends with him when his mates are doing things like that?" James fumed after a particularly nasty "prank" was pulled on Mary McDonald, who had to spend three days in the hospital wing.

Eva wondered the same thing and asked Lily about it that night while all of the girls were sitting around in their dorm and everyone was congratulating Eva for making it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Lily, why do you still talk to Snape?"

Lily hugged a pillow and brushed her long hair out of her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"His mates are obviously evil. What do you see in him?" Eva asked, sincerely curious.

Lily scrutinized her. "Is this you or your cousin talking?"

"Me," Eva said. "I won't tell him anything you say. Certain conversations are protected by the Girl Code."

Marleen and Alice were similarly curious. They had also heard what happened to Mary, a Gryffindor 7th year and were appropriately repulsed.

"His friends are terrible," Alice pointed out. "Especially Avery and Mulciber."

"They're in his House," Lily said uncomfortably. "Housemates tend to stick together."

"You know this is different," Marleen said derisively. "There are certain Gryffindors you refuse to associate with because you don't agree with what they do."

Everyone looked at Eva sheepishly. She shrugged. "I don't agree with everything those idiots do either, but I still love them."

"Sirius is pretty good looking," Marleen said dreamily.

Eva hit her with a pillow. "Not what I meant." Marleen was right though. Sirius had been in the back of Eva's mind far too often for comfort lately.

"We've been friends for years," Lily said, steering the conversation back from that tangent. "We live near each other. I met him before I even came to Hogwarts."

"That doesn't make you obligated to stay his friend when he's involved in bad things," Alice said wisely.

"I'm not obligated," Lily tried to argue. "I really can't explain it properly but he's been a good friend to me."

"If you say so," Eva said in a casually unconvincing tone. She just wanted to go to bed. Quidditch practice was early tomorrow and she needed a decent night's sleep.

"Alright you lot! We need to whip ourselves into shape. The first match of the season may seem far off, but it's closer than you think, and I for one am determined to thrash Slytherin," James said in full Captain mode.

Sirius yawned and ran his hands through his hair. The other Beater, a 3rd year named Michael Pritchett, was still half asleep, as was the third Chaser, a 7th year girl named Elizabeth Weatherly. The Seeker, 4th year Agnes Thistlewhite was nodding off on Michael's shoulder. The only person who seemed awake other than James was the Keeper, 3rd year Albert Cooper. He was new talent and very eager to please.

"It'd be a lot easier if we were awake James," Eva said crossly. James frowned at her. She never used his real name. It was either Jamesy or Prongs, so he knew she wasn't in a good mood.

"We need to be prepared for anything," James argued. "Come on, diversionary tactics."

Nearly everyone groaned. Sirius stood to support his best friend. "Come on mates, we need to be in top form so we can beat my idiotic brother." Everyone knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch tensions were at an all-time high since the Black brothers were both on their House's teams.

Agnes, a soft spoken girl nearly a foot shorter than Sirius, clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We can do it, Sirius. I'm faster than he is." This was true. Agnes was talented enough that she could probably play Quidditch for England when she finished school if she wanted.

"We've got your back," Michael said, hefting his bat onto his shoulder.

Burly Albert bounced with excitement that seemed to contradict his stature. "Let's do this!"

Someone, probably James, did the Aguamenti Charm over Eva's head, snapping her to attention. "I'm awake!" she cried. With that, the team mounted their brooms and had a pretty good practice considering they had two new members.

"Good practice everyone," James said cheerfully. "Same time tomorrow then."

Everyone groaned. Elizabeth checked her watch and declared, "I'm going back to bed." It was only 9 AM and her classes didn't start until 11 so it wasn't a completely terrible idea.

"Let's go get breakfast," Eva suggested. She was too awake to go back to sleep now. She linked arms with both James and Sirius and tried (unsuccessfully) to get them to skip to the Great Hall.

When they arrived, Remus and Peter were already eating and the Quidditch players flopped down next to them on the bench. Eva flopped a little too hard and landed partially on Remus. "Sorry Moony," she said sheepishly. "This buffoon woke me up too early."

James scowled. "It's the best time to be on the field. Less interruptions." This was true. They hadn't seen a single soul in the stands because all reasonable people were still in bed.

Eva rolled her eyes and buttered a muffin. "Whatever, Prongs."

"Have you started on the Defense Against the Dark Arts paper about the Unforgivable Curses yet?" Peter asked.

Everyone goggled at him. "It's due tomorrow and you haven't started yet?"

"I couldn't find the right library books," he whined. "They were all checked out."

"Probably by other 5th years with the paper," Sirius said.

"I have a book you can borrow Wormtail," Remus said. "Don't panic."

"Who's panicking," Peter muttered. "It's only worth a big chunk of our grade."

"Ease up, mate," James said cheerfully. "Tomorrow's full moon!"

"That's not a reason to celebrate," Remus muttered.

"Good, I've been so bored," Sirius added.

Poor Remus did look pale and peaky. Eva enjoyed their exploits at the full moon but felt that James and Sirius could be a bit more tactful. She shot both of them a glare as she rubbed Remus' arm. He looked surprised but grateful. Sirius looked unhappy. What was that about?

Eva was distracted from that confusing thought by the sudden arrival of Lily Evans because she was trying hard not to laugh at James suddenly puffing up his chest and messing up his hair to get her attention. Boys.


	18. Chapter 18

Even though Remus got along better with Amy, he found that there was much to appreciate about Eva as well. She was funny, sassy, and kindhearted. She wasn't afraid to say it like it is and looked out for Remus' wellbeing in a way that his male friends—as good of friends as they were—just weren't capable of. He was beginning to realize that he fancied Eva as much as he had fancied Amy, and not just because they looked the same. Bits of Amy still manifested through Eva, like the way she cared about other people and wouldn't stand for bullying. Whenever James and Sirius messed around with other people too much she refused to speak to them and went to hang out with Lily and her friends instead.

Sometimes Remus wondered if Eva cared about him as more than a friend. Occasionally she would do something to indicate it, but then she'd go flirt with Sirius or one of the other blokes on the Quidditch team and he figured that Eva was just a flirty sort of person. Still…he couldn't help but wonder. Regardless, he wouldn't be good for her. He was a monster and would never be able to get a job, let alone a good job. He couldn't provide for a wife.

A wife! He was fifteen years old, he shouldn't even be thinking about things like that yet. Premature or not, he still knew it was impossible, so why not accept that now? Why date anyone if you know it will never go anywhere? Especially with someone like Eva. No, Remus was resigned to the fact that they could never be together, even if she did like him.

Besides, it was far more likely that she fancied Sirius. They seemed to get on best out of everyone, minus James, but he was family. Sirius and Eva were remarkably similar. And he could offer her what Remus never could—safety and stability. Again, Remus chided himself for thinking that far into the future, but he couldn't help it. He'd always been an overthinker.

Just then, Eva skipped into the Common Room and plopped into a chair directly between Remus and James. "I just set off a load of Dungbombs in the Charms Corridor," she said grinning. "Filch will be furious."

Remus' heart constricted. Merlin, she was so beautiful when she smiled. He shook that thought away and spoke up. "Any particular reason for aggravating our beloved caretaker?"

Everyone snickered at that comment. None of them liked Filch. He was always threatening to string them up by their ankles in the dungeon when they got detentions. Obviously, James and Sirius got detention most often, but they were occasionally accompanied by the rest of their friends. Remus would never admit it, but he thought those two got detention most often because they were show-offs. The other three Marauders had better sense and were able to hide their misdeeds more efficiently. Eva probably had detention the least because, as Amy, she had discovered nearly all of the secret passages that ended up on the Marauders Map and knew how to avoid being spotted from her time as a shadow.

Yes, Amy was definitely still in there somewhere, which made it more difficult for Remus' heart to let her go. He'd fancied Amy for a very long time. Even this louder, sassier version couldn't change that. The worst part was that no matter what else he tried to think of, his thoughts always wandered back to that enigmatic girl who had first captivated his attention in second year. It was both wonderful and terrible being around her all the time.

Eva suddenly stopped speaking midsentence—something about Quidditch? Remus had been distracted—and everyone turned to her. She was staring blankly ahead at the wall before suddenly collapsing.

"Eva!" James cried. He only called her Eva when he was upset or concerned. The rest of the time it was Nighteyes.

Peter and Sirius scrambled over their seats to get a closer look. "We have to get her to the Hospital Wing."

White faced, Remus helped James and Sirius carry her out of the portrait hole as Peter trotted behind. It couldn't be very comfortable, the position they were carrying her in, but she wasn't conscious for it so what did it matter?

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked. She was used to seeing Remus, of course, because she escorted him to the Whomping Willow each full moon—he tried to forget that one was that night without success. James, Sirius, and Peter were occasionally in for being hit by Snape's spells, but Eva wasn't in the Hospital Wing very often, if at all.

"She was talking and seemed to go into a kind of trance and then fainted," Sirius said, sounding upset.

"Hmm," Madam Pomfrey said. "Well, I'll see what I can do for her. Mr. Lupin, I'd like a word. The rest of you get back to your Common Room."

Full moon. There was no avoiding the thought now. He was in for several hours of agony and days of feeling sick afterward.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Remus whispered to his friends.

They nodded, concern for Eva still written all over their faces.

Once they were gone, Madam Pomfrey's compassion-filled gaze was on him. "Come on then, let's get you outside." She escorted him across the grounds with a few attempts as reassuring remarks that did little. Remus really hated the full moon.

Sirius was furious at Snape. He'd hit him with the Dancing Feet Spell that made him look like a complete moron in the Great Hall earlier that day. With Eva in the Hospital Wing, he felt helpless and therefore even angrier, needing to vent his frustration on someone. Who better than Snape? He deserved it, the slimy git.

Remus must be at the Whomping Willow by now, Sirius thought. I better go find Snivellus.

"Oi! Snape!" Sirius called down the hallway. He'd feigned a need to use the bathroom and ditched the rest of his friends once he'd spotted Snape lurking in a nearby corridor.

"What do you want, Black?" he sneered. "Care for some more dancing?"

Sirius barely controlled his fury at that remark. "Just thought I'd let you know about something cool behind the Whomping Willow."

"The Whomping Willow?" Snape asked, intrigued.

"If you push a certain knot on the trunk of the tree, the branches freeze, and there's a secret passage beneath it."

"Why are you telling me this?" Snape was now suspicious.

Sirius shrugged. "Just thought you'd be interested, that's all." He walked back to the Common Room with his hands in his pockets, pleased with himself. Snape was definitely going to get what he deserved.

"You took a while," James remarked when Sirius sauntered back into the Common Room.

"Had some Snivellus business to attend to."

"Ah, payback for earlier. Well, what'd you do, turn his greasy hair pink?" James asked with a snicker.

"No, no, covered him with boils? Made him sprout whiskers?" Peter guessed.

"You're way off the mark," Sirius said. "I told him about the Whomping Willow. I'd bet he's headed over there right now."

James jumped to his feet with a cry of dismay. "Sirius you could get expelled! Remus could get expelled! Worse, you could get arrested!"

Sirius paled. "I wasn't thinking."

"No, you weren't," James growled. "Stay here, I'm going to take care of this."

"But—" Sirius protested.

"STAY HERE!"

James raced out of the portrait hole wearing his Invisibility Cloak so he wouldn't be stopped or given detention for being out late. He had to get to them before it was too late. As worried as he was about Sirius' legal repercussions, he was more concerned at the moment about saving his friend from killing someone. Even someone he didn't like.

"SNAPE!" James roared despite his shortness of breath. "Get away from there!"

Snape had already frozen the tree and was peering down the passage. "Shove off, Potter. I'm only doing what your mate told me to."

"If you want to keep your head you'll get out of here right now," James snarled.

"What I do isn't your business," Snape snapped.

James was about to argue some more when an unearthly howl filled the air. A familiar howl. Remus was transforming, even if he wasn't all the way there yet. Snape looked down the corridor for the source of the noise and saw a 90% transformed werewolf who was sniffing the air madly, detecting human. He froze in horror.

"COME ON!" James yelled and tried dragging Snape away. Snape could not move. Exasperated, James threw Snape over his shoulders and ran as fast as he could carrying such a weight back to the castle.

"Werewolf," Snape whispered. "Your mate is a werewolf!"

"Shut up," James wheezed. He was still out of breath from carrying Snape back to the castle.

"He's a werewolf! He's dangerous! I'm telling Professor Dumbledore."

"Wait!" James called but Snape was already gone. Exhausted and unwilling to chase after him, James put the Cloak back on and walked very slowly to Gryffindor Tower.

"I—" Sirius tried to explain.

"Not a word out of you," James huffed. "I'm going to bed."


	19. Chapter 19

Sirius was lucky that he got off with only a warning and detention until Christmas. Remus was furious that Sirius had tried to use him for his own purposes. James was furious that he'd had to rescue Snivellus Snape of all people. When Eva got out of the Hospital Wing and heard what had happened, she was furious that Sirius had taken his bullying against Snape to a completely different level and that he had nearly made Remus kill someone and live with that guilt. Peter didn't know whose side to take. As a result, the Marauders were hardly speaking to each other.

"What's going on with you lot lately? I never thought I'd see Potter's gang so separated." Lily asked one day at breakfast. Eva had been spending a lot more time with Lily's group of girlfriends since the incident.

"We've had a disagreement," Eva said stiffly. Remus and James were sitting on the total opposite side of the table from Peter and Sirius.

"What about?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it," Eva said.

"Was it Potter's doing?" Lily asked derisively.

Eva's temper flared. "It was not! James tried to stop this; he wasn't the source of it! I'm sick of you bad talking my friends all the time. I don't talk trash about your Dark Arts obsessed best friend so lay off mine!"

Lily looked both taken aback and apologetic but Eva was already storming away from the table.

"What's her problem?" Severus asked as he joined Lily on her way out of the Great Hall.

"I'm not sure but I think I made it worse," Lily said sadly.

"It's no real loss," Severus said. "She's a Potter."

"And she's been nothing but kind to you," Lily said angrily. "She tells her mates off when they give you trouble and refuses to talk to them."

"Still, she's a Potter," Severus said seething. "Those Potters are no good."

"James Potter is an arrogant, bullying toerag," Lily agreed. "But Eva's different. She's my friend. You used to like her, so what's your deal now?"

"Before I didn't know she was Potter's cousin," Severus said darkly. Lily had explained Eva's transformation from Amy as best she could to Severus, the only other person in Hogwarts who was aware that Amy had existed.

"She's the same person, albeit a bit more outgoing," Lily said firmly. "Bad talk James Potter all you want, but leave Eva alone."

Severus shook his head in disbelief as Lily stalked away, head held high. She needed to find Eva to apologize. She found her crying into her pillow in their dormitory.

"Eva?" Lily asked gently. "I'm sorry for what I said."

"That's not why I'm crying," Eva sniffed. "Someone I really care about did something terrible and I'm so confused. I don't know whether I can forgive him for what he did."

"Did he hurt you?"

Eva shook her head. "Technically, he didn't hurt anybody. But that was only because Ja—someone else—prevented it. But he meant to."

Lily felt her insides squirm guiltily. She had a similar dilemma with Severus. His friends were involved in some really bad stuff and she was constantly excusing him to her friends that couldn't understand why she still spoke to him. "If he didn't really hurt anyone it's forgivable, isn't it?" Lily asked partially for herself.

"I just don't know," Eva said wearily. "I hate that people I love sometimes do things I hate."

"You love this person who did this thing?" Lily whispered.

"I don't—as a friend—well—I don't know," Eva stammered. "I might."

"If you love him, you should forgive him. Is he sorry for what he did?"

Eva thought of the regret she'd seen so clearly in Sirius' face when she'd confronted him about what he'd done and how he'd endangered both Snape and Remus. "He is."

"Then you should forgive him," Lily concluded. "Holding grudges never ends well." She finished sadly thinking of her own sister's grudge against her since she found out Lily was a witch.

"I think I will. Thanks Lily," Eva said and mopped at her face with the sleeve of her robes before going down to find her friends.

She found them out on the grounds, sitting under their favorite tree by the Black Lake. "Have you all forgiven each other then?"

A chorus of sheepish yeses met her ears. "Well good, because I forgive you too Sirius. Just don't do anything that boneheadedly stupid again, alright?"

"Group hug!" James yelled and everyone was suddenly lost under a tangle of arms and laughing like maniacs. They all needed a good laugh after the events of the past week.


	20. Chapter 20

O.W.L. year went on. James and Sirius weren't too bothered about tests because they were talented and knew their stuff. Eva and Remus put in a lot of extra studying, but Peter was frantic. All around them people were having breakdowns about their impending O.W.L.s. Marleen broke out into boils and had to go to the Hospital Wing for Madam Pomfrey to put her right.

A few weeks after the Snape incident and the Marauders were basically acting like it never happened. They still pranked people, got detentions, and had adventures on the full moon out on the grounds and around Hogsmeade. Eva was still unsure of her feelings for Sirius though. That was the one lasting effect of the Snape incident. She wasn't sure she could be with someone who could endanger someone else's life like that. But it had only happened once and the rest of the time he was his normal self, which was why she was so confused.

After Gryffindor had (barely, but still) won the Quidditch Cup, inflating James' ego more than ever, he had strutted around the castle for weeks, much to the annoyance of Severus Snape. Eva secretly thought he was jealous of James' Quidditch abilities and subsequent popularity, but she wouldn't voice that thought aloud. Her friends were determined to believe that Snape was just devil spawn. Eva was tired of their feud because if Lily liked Snape he couldn't be completely horrible, right? Her friends disagreed.

O.W.L. week finally rolled around and the first few tests passed without incident. Eva felt she'd done reasonably well on them, even if she wasn't as sure of getting straight O's as James and Sirius seemed to be. Eva felt fairly confident she'd do well in Defense Against the Dark Arts though. It was one of her best subjects.

Sure enough, when she test rolled around, she knew almost all of the material. She had to stop herself from laughing aloud when she spotted a question about recognizing werewolves. Eva finished earlier than her neighbors. Snape was sitting not too far from her and was still scribbling furiously.

"Five more minutes!" Professor Flitwick called.

Eva glanced around the room to see if her friends were done with their exams. A few rows over, James yawned, messed up is hair, and turned around to grin at Sirius, who gave him a thumbs up. Marleen, sitting behind Sirius, let out a dreamy sigh and made googly eyes at him, making Eva frown. Remus, two seats over, was looking over his answers and thoughtfully scratching his chin with his quill. He did that a lot when he was concentrating. Peter was fidgeting in his chair and looking decidedly nervous. Looking back at James, Eva saw that he was doodling on a piece of parchment.

"Quills down please! That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!" Professor Flitwick's Summoning Charm caused a hundred papers to zoom across the room into his arms, knocking him over. Eva stifled a laugh as Lily and Hufflepuff Amanda Adams helped Professor Flitwick to his feet. "Thank you…thank you," Professor Flitwick addressed his helpers. "Very well everybody, you're free to go!"

Eva hurried to catch up with James and Sirius, who appeared to be waiting. As they joined the throng of students fleeing to the sunny grounds, Sirius spoke up. "Did you like question ten, Moony?"

"Loved it," Remus said crisply. "'Give five signs that identify the werewolf.' Excellent question."

"Do you think you managed to get all of the signs?" James asked feigning concern.

"Think I did," Remus said. "One: He's sitting on my chair. Two: He's wearing my clothes. Three: His name's Remus Lupin…"

Everyone but Peter laughed. He spoke up nervously. "I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and tufted tail but I couldn't think what else—"

James rolled his eyes. "How thick are you, Wormtail? You run round with a werewolf once a month—"

"Keep your voice down," Eva said, noticing Remus' discomfort. He'd been extra keen on keeping his secret since Snape found out, even though Dumbledore had sworn him to secrecy. He looked at her gratefully.

James shrugged it off as they continued walking towards the favorite tree.

"Well I thought that paper was a piece of cake. I'll be surprised if I don't get Outstanding on it at least," Sirius said confidently.

"Me too," James replied as he pulled out a struggling Snitch. Eva bit her lip to refrain from telling her cousin what she really thought of his habit of stealing the Golden Snitch to show off. He wasn't even a Seeker. He'd started doing it earlier in the year once he had access to the Quidditch balls as Captain and it was really getting on Eva's nerves.

"Where'd you get that?" Sirius asked.

"Nicked it," James said casually. Eva, standing behind him so he couldn't see, rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Lily, Marleen, and Alice dipping their feet into the lake and wished she was with them instead of hanging out with her idiotic cousin.

When they reached the tree, Remus pulled out his Transfiguration book and studied for the final test. Sirius, bored, scanned the horizon. James was playing with the Snitch and Peter was inflating his ego even further by clapping when he made difficult catches. Eva crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed, trying to think of a polite way to go hang out with Lily instead.

Eventually Sirius got annoyed with his best friend's antics as well. "Put that away, will you? Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement." Peter turned bright pink and Eva turned the full force of her glare on Sirius, who didn't seem particularly bothered.

"If it bothers you," James said as he stuffed the Snitch back into his pocket.

"I'm bored," Sirius moaned. "Wish it was full moon."

"You might," Remus said darkly and Eva once again wanted to smack Sirius for being an insensitive twit. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you can test me…Here." He held out his book.

Sirius snorted. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."

"I could test you Moony," Eva offered, thoroughly sick of Sirius and James. Sometimes they really got on her nerves.

"This'll liven you up Padfoot…look who it is," James said softly.

Sirius perked up. "Excellent. Snivellus."

Eva tried to concentrate on quizzing Remus, but it was difficult to tune out what was going on in the background.

"Alright, Snivellus?" James called.

Snape instantly dropped his bag and pulled out his wand, but James cried, "Expelliarmus!" and the wand went soaring.

Sirius laughed and James cast another spell as Snape struggled for his wand. "Impedimenta!" Other students were gathering to watch but Eva and Remus were focusing very intently on the book trying to forget what was going on around them.

James and Sirius now both had their wands pointed and Snape and Peter had gotten up from the ground in front of the tree to watch.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" James asked.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," Sirius said viciously. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word." Many students watching the spectacle began to laugh.

"You—wait," Snape puffed angrily. "You—wait…"

"What for what?" Sirius asked coolly. "What're you going to do Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Snape started screaming swear words and hexes but his wand was too far away from him to perform any.

"Wash out your mouth," James said coldly. "Scourgify!"

Snape started choking on frothy pink bubbles and Eva abandoned the pretense of studying and jumped up. "James—"

She was cut off by the arrival of a very angry Lily. "Leave him ALONE!"

"All right, Evans?" James asked, using the voice he reserved specifically for speaking to his crush.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated, glaring at James. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," James said thoughtfully. "It's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…" Many onlookers laughed but Remus and Eva didn't.

"You think you're funny but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone," Lily said coldly.

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," James said quickly. Go on…go out with me, and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly ever again."

"James," Eva said warningly. She didn't think asking Lily out just now was appropriate and regardless, Snape was inching towards his wand.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," Lily sniffed.

"Bad luck Prongs," Sirius said and turned to see what Eva had already seen. They both yelled, "OY!" but it was too late. Snape's spell had cut a gash in the side of James' face.

James whirled around and suddenly Snape was hanging upside down, revealing pale, skinny legs and graying underwear. Many onlookers cheered and Eva's friends (minus Remus, still intent on his book) roared with laughter. Eva stifled a laugh and saw that Lily's furious expression twitched for a second as if she was about to smile.

"Let him down," Lily said angrily.

"Certainly," said James and with a flick of his wand, Snape crumpled into a heap on the ground. He quickly got to his feet with his wand out, but James yelled "Petrificus Totalus!" and Snape fell, stiff as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted, incensed enough that she had pulled her own wand out.

"Guys—" Eva began but was cut off by James.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," he said earnestly.

"Take the curse off him, then!" Lily insisted.

James sighed deeply but complied. As Snape staggered to his feet, he said, "There you go. You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus."

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" Snape shouted.

Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash my pants if I were you, Snivellus."

Eva stood there, frozen, helpless, but James defended her friend. "Apoligze to Evans!" he roared and pointed his wand at Snape threateningly.

Lily whirled around. "I don't want you to make him apologize. You're as bad as he is…"

"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a—you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can—I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." Lily turned on her heel and hurried towards the castle.

"Evans!" James shouted after her. "Hey, EVANS!" She didn't look back.

"What is it with her?" James asked, trying not to seem like the answer mattered too much.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," Sirius said.

"And why wouldn't she?" Eva said furiously, finding her voice. "You've been so much worse this year than normal! You—aside from possibly Sirius—" Sirius interjected "OI!" but Eva plowed on, "—are the most conceited idiot I've ever had the misfortune to meet, let alone be related to. I'm ashamed to be seen with you right now so no wonder Lily wants nothing to do with you."

James looked like he wanted to retort but instead angrily muttered, "Right…right."

Eva turned and strode toward the castle, intending to comfort Lily. As she left she heard James say, "Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" before she was out of earshot.

Her eyes burned with angry tears. She was so sick of her friends right now. James…Sirius…Peter…even Remus for not saying anything. She was also angry at herself for not doing anything sooner and preventing that whole scene. Being called a Mudblood by her best friend…Lily must be beside herself. Eva picked up her pace to go see to her friend.


	21. Chapter 21

"Lily," Eva said softly as she knocked on the door to the dormitory.

"Come in," said a shaky voice. Eva could tell her friend had been crying. When she opened the door, sure enough, Lily's eyes were red and puffy and she had tear tracks on her cheeks.

Eva sat down gingerly on the edge of Lily's bed. "I told my idiot cousin off after you left. I should have stopped him sooner."

"Not your fault," Lily sniffled. "James Potter is a force of nature and can't be stopped. Not in a good way, obviously."

"Are you okay?" Eva asked. "Snape had absolutely no right to say that to you."

"I just don't understand," Lily said wiping her nose. "But at the same time I do. He's been hanging out with future Death Eaters so it makes sense he'd parrot their ideas. Still, we were friends for such a long time. I can't believe he'd say that to me."

"He's scum, that's why," Eva said. "You deserve better friends than him."

"I have better friends than him," Lily said, offering a weak smile. "I have you."

Eva felt touched and hugged Lily. "I could punch him if you want. I have a mean right hook."

Lily shook her head. "I think your cousin's taking care of that."

Eva frowned. "He really has been an idiot lately. I'm thoroughly sick of him and Sirius at the moment. I hope you don't hate me for being associated with them."

"Of course not!" Lily said, affronted. "You can't help who your family is. I'd know…" Lily's tensions with her sister seemed to be getting worse every year, and Eva always felt sorry for her in that regard.

"I'll be your bodyguard," Eva volunteered. "If Snape or James or any other idiot tries to bother you, I'll hex them to pieces."

Lily's eyes widened. "You'd hex your own cousin?"

Eva gave a sharp nod. "Right now he deserves it. Let me go get you something to eat. You stay right here where no one will bother you."

"Thanks, Eva," Lily said with a more sincere smile this time.

Eva stalked right past her friends, now in the Common Room, ignoring all of them and strode through the portrait hole on the way to the kitchens. The house elves were pleased to see her, as always, and offered her a variety of comfort foods when she explained that she needed to cheer up a friend. She used multiple secret passages to get back to Gryffindor Tower with her bounty without being seen.

"You're a saint," Lily said as she stuffed a pastry into her mouth. "Thank you."

Eva smiled. "You're welcome. If you don't mind, I think I'll just stay up here and study for Transfiguration. I don't want to run into anyone in the Common Room again if you get my drift."

"Understandable. You're welcome to stay."

Eva didn't so much as speak to James, Sirius, Remus, or Peter for the rest of term. On the train home she sat with Lily. At the station she marched over to her parents, only briefly saying hello to her aunt and uncle, before insisting they leave immediately without stopping to chat. Her parents were bewildered, but complied.

Since she wasn't on speaking terms with James, her summer was quite boring. She owled Lily and eventually Remus, who apologized for his uninvolvement, because honestly he hadn't done much less than Eva had. She spent a lot of time just lying on the ground listening to the WWN. She also spent a lot of time talking to her parents and filling them in on four years' worth of information.

She didn't get any correspondence from her other friends until a letter from James arrived a few weeks before the end of summer.

Nighteyes, I know you're probably still mad at me us but Padfoot ran away from home and could use a friend right now. You're the best at cheering people up. Can you come over?

-Prongs

Sirius ran away? What had his parents done this time to make him do that? Was it really horrible? Poor Sirius. He did need her. She put aside her anger and let compassion fill the space. Her friends needed her.

"Mum, I'm going to James'!" Eva hollered as she grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace. She rolled out a moment later and found Sirius sitting glumly on the sofa. "Sirius," she said.

He looked up in surprise. "You came."

She went over and wrapped her arms around him. "Of course I came."

He suddenly crushed her to him and she felt a few tears fall into her hair but didn't say anything to embarrass him in front of James.

"It'll be okay, mate," James said consolingly. "You're not homeless. This is your home now. The bedroom next to mine is yours."

"It's a nice room," Eva added. "I stayed there last summer."

Sirius looked up at both of them gratefully.

"Sirius!" Aunt Mary said as she walked in from the backyard. "How nice to see you!"

"Sirius needs a place to stay, Mum," James said.

"Well you know you're always welcome here, dear," Aunt Mary said.

"Thanks Mrs. Potter," Sirius said sincerely.

"Come on, Padfoot," Eva said, attempting to pull him to his feet. "Let's go play a game of Exploding Snap."


	22. Chapter 22

*Author's Note: I just realized I've been spelling Marlene McKinnon's name wrong, so from here on out it will be the correct spelling. It is the same character as earlier in the story. My only excuse for this travesty of spelling is that I'm an exhausted college student with perpetual health problems. Sorry guys, and carry on.*

When Eva got back to Hogwarts at the beginning of sixth year a lot had changed. For one, Alice was now going out with Frank Longbottom, a 7th year Gryffindor. Marlene was going out with any boy who would ask her and Eva had a hard time keeping track of who all her dates were. She sort of just nodded when Marlene stopped for breath. Lily was a lot quieter the first few weeks of term. The Snape incident seemed to still be bothering her.

Sirius—no doubt because of being forced to grow up a little from leaving home—had mellowed a bit. James appeared to have taken Lily's parting words at the end of the previous year to heart. He stopped stealing the Snitch and didn't mess up his own hair anymore. Remus seemed even more tired than usual. Eva hated that he had to deal with the full moon by himself every holiday. Peter was the only one who seemed unchanged.

Eva was pondering all this as she walked down to the Quidditch Pitch. James had just held tryouts for the empty Chaser spot left by Elizabeth's graduation from Hogwarts. The new Chaser's name was Barbara Smith and she was a 3rd year. She seemed promising and with any luck Gryffindor would once again win the Quidditch Cup.

James began a long-winded speech about tactics and Sirius leaned over and whispered to Eva. "His speeches just get longer and longer, don't they?"

Eva smiled. "I don't think he even realizes that no one really pays attention because he's having too much fun."

Her interest in Sirius had been renewed over the past month or so because Sirius had matured a bit since being such a bonehead the previous year. She wasn't sure what to do about it though because it didn't seem that Sirius fancied her. He was always flirting with everyone. Eva didn't really flirt much these days. She found Marlene's constant flirting with every boy she saw wearying and didn't want to be like that.

"Our chances for the Cup do look good this year though," Sirius said as he eyed the other members of the team. The returning members of the team all worked well together and Barbara had flown an excellent trial.

"I think so too. We better win because I heard McGonagall say that she liked having the Quidditch Cup in her study. She used to be a Quidditch player, you know," Eva replied. "It's hard to imagine her being school age and playing Quidditch."

"Alright you lot! Mount your brooms and let's go!" James shouted.

Eva and Sirius exchanged glances. "Did you hear anything he just said?"

"Nope," Sirius grinned.

"Perfect," Eva mumbled and took to her broom.

Practice went relatively well considering the new member and when they all trudged back to the Great Hall for breakfast, Lily pulled Eva aside before she could reach Remus and Peter.

"Well hello there," Eva said. "Any particular reason you just yanked me out of sight?"

"I wanted to talk to you and don't want your cousin to see me," Lily said urgently.

"Okay? What's going on?"

Lily peered around the corner and saw James talking animatedly to his friends, all of whom were laughing at something he'd just said. "Do you think he hates me now?"

"James? He'd never hate you," Eva scoffed. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, I yelled at him in front of a crowd last term," Lily said anxiously. "And he hasn't asked me out at all this term, which has never happened before."

"Lily Evans, do you _want_ him to ask you out?" Eva was stunned. She hadn't seen this coming. Lily had turned down James' advances for as long as she could remember. She didn't think they would ever go out.

"No," Lily said unconvincingly. "I just don't want him to be mad at me."

"He isn't mad at you, I promise you that," Eva said. "I'm not sure why he's stopped asking you out, but I could ask him."

Lily turned pink. "Are you sure? I don't want him to think that I do want to go out with him."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Lily, do you think I would have gotten this far in life if I didn't know how to be subtle?"

"Just make sure you're _very_ subtle," she insisted. "I don't want him getting the wrong idea."

Eva patted her friend's shoulder. "Done. Better let me get back over there before any of them get suspicious. I'll see you later." She skipped back to the Gryffindor table with a smile on her face. Maybe James' dreams weren't completely hopeless after all.

"Where were you?" Peter asked suspiciously.

"One of my friends wanted to know about the Transfiguration homework," Eva lied smoothly.

"We have Transfiguration homework?" Sirius seemed surprised.

"Yes, and you'd know that if you two paid attention at the end of class instead of playing Exploding Snap under the desk," Eva said with a pointed look in his and James' direction.

James shrugged. "Transfiguration is easy. I've never gotten less than an E on an assignment the whole time I've been in it."

"Well if you want to keep that record up you should know what the assignments are," Eva said crisply.

James shrugged again.

"Did you know that Marlene McKinnon is dating a Hufflepuff?" Sirius spoke up suddenly.

No one was terribly surprised at the turn the conversation was taking. A lot of gossip centered around who was dating who those days. Eva saw an opportunity to ask about Lily if she played her cards right. "And Alice is dating Frank Longbottom. The big bloke who plans on being an Auror."

"Good for her," Remus said absentmindedly. He was easily distracted a lot lately and it worried Eva but now wasn't the time to discuss that.

"The only girl—other than me obviously—in our year who isn't dating anyone is Lily Evans," Eva said innocently.

"She isn't?" James' head snapped up. "I thought for sure…she has to be dating someone."

"She went on a few dates to Hogsmeade last year," Remus said, paying attention now. "But never with the same person twice."

"I thought you'd given up on her, Prongs," Sirius said, sparing Eva from having to bring it up personally. She smiled at how cleverly she'd manipulated the conversation.

"I still like her," James said, looking down at his plate. "But she basically hates me so I decided to lay off."

"She doesn't hate you," Eva snorted. "She was just mad that you were bothering Snape."

"It seemed like she hated me," James said, still downcast. "I'm not hungry anymore. I think I'll go work on that Transfiguration homework." He got up from the table and slumped away.

"I've never seen him so dejected," Sirius said sadly. "He must really love her."

Love? What did sixteen year olds know about love? James had liked Lily for years though…did that mean he loved her? Poor James.

"I wonder what it would be like, having someone love you," Remus said thoughtfully. "I've been in love before but nothing came of it."

"You'll find out someday," Eva said, patting his arm sympathetically. "I know that." She was also curious who Remus had loved. Had she ever met her? Was it someone in Gryffindor?

Remus didn't seem convinced.

"Have you ever been in love, Nighteyes?" Peter asked.

Eva had to think about it. She'd fancied both Sirius and Remus at different points in time, but she didn't think she'd loved either one of them. "No. I've never been in love."

Sirius looked at her with a strange expression she couldn't identify and Remus looked down at his plate tiredly.

"Well gents," she said, not liking the serious turn the conversation had taken. "I better go work on that Transfiguration homework too."

As she walked away, she saw both Sirius and Remus looking after her. She couldn't tell what emotions were playing across their faces but it made her feel slightly uncomfortable and she walked faster.


	23. Chapter 23

The dating scene only became more complicated as 6th year progressed. Eva grew weary of it all. Pretty much all of her friends were in relationships or at least going on dates and she hadn't been asked out once. She wondered if it was because she had intimidating guy best friends or if it was because there was something wrong with her. That was a depressing thought.

She still hung out with her friends but felt a sort of disconnect from them, drowning in her own problems. She was still passing out sometimes and having weird flashes of memory that she couldn't quite recall once she woke up. But she knew something was wrong. It was only a matter of time before her mind completely snapped.

She found herself walking alone for once when she heard an unexpected voice calling her name.

"Potter!"

She looked around but didn't see James in the vicinity so it must have meant her. What she did see was Severus Snape running to catch up with her. She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. "What do you want?"

He looked taken aback. "You've never been snappish with me before."

"You insulted my best friend in the worst way imaginable. What reason do I have not to be snappish?" she retorted.

Snape seemed to deflate. "Oh. I wanted to talk to you about that. I mean about her. I mean—"

"I don't care about your good intentions, Severus Snape," Eva sniffed. "What's done is done. She never wants to speak to you again. Satisfied?"

"But if you just talked to her…" he looked at Eva hopefully.

"And why on earth would I do that?"

He deflated further. "Fair point. Well, if you won't talk to her, will you go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Eva's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

He immediately backpedaled. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Good, because I don't. For one, we've hardly ever spoken a word to each other, and two, the enemy of my friend is my enemy. What you did to Lily was the final straw regarding my opinion of you."

"You once had a good opinion of me?" Snape seemed surprised.

"Not good, per se," Eva explained. "I felt sorry for you. I thought my friends' picking on you wasn't fair. I stood up for you. I'm not saying you deserved all of it, but you are basically a Death Eater so yeah, you're not that great a person. I don't go out with Death Eaters."

Snape's face turned red. "Last I heard, you don't go out with anyone!" And he turned and fled, his cloak billowing behind him.

"What on earth just happened?" Eva muttered to herself. She was completely at a loss why Snape would ask her out. They had had maybe one conversation in six years of going to school together and it was a long time ago. What possessed him to think that was okay? Her friends could never know. They'd never let her live it down, regardless of her telling him off.

At the same time, his parting comment stung. Her lack of dates had been gnawing at her progressively more as the term went on. She was still muttering angrily to herself when she ran smack into Remus.

"Oi, watch yourse—Eva are you alright?" He seemed slightly alarmed when he saw the look on her face.

Remus was almost the last person she wanted to see just then, but he wouldn't tease her as mercilessly as Sirius or James, right?

"I just had a rather distressing conversation with someone that I'd rather not make common knowledge," she managed to say without bursting into tears. What was wrong with her?

"Who?" he sounded angrier than Eva had seen him since the Whomping Willow incident.

Eva's throat closed and she couldn't speak. She shook her head, feeling the tears form.

Remus immediately backtracked. "Hey, it's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"I should go," Eva said thickly.

"Eva," Remus said in a tone that seemed to wrap her in a warm blanket.

She turned back to face him and he held his arms out. Forgetting the potential awkwardness, she stepped into his arms and savored the warmth and comfort of his embrace. He was here for her. He didn't even know what was wrong and he still cared. Eva tried to memorize that feeling because she didn't know if he'd ever hold her like that again and in the moment it was exactly what she needed.

But she didn't like Remus. Amy had liked Remus but Eva fancied Sirius. Their personalities were completely different. Eva was more drawn towards a loud, outgoing personality than a reserved one. So why did she suddenly feel at home in Remus' arms?

"Whatever it is, it'll be alright," he said comfortingly.

She really didn't have a response to that so she just buried her head deeper into his chest.

"Hey Moony!" James called from across the hall.

Eva didn't dare look up and Remus flinched slightly at his friend's approach. Was he surprised Eva didn't let go?

"What's going on here?" James asked, suspicious.

"Why are you holding Nighteyes?" Sirius' voice held a hint of anger.

"Are you two dating now?" Peter piped up. Eva heard two smacks and Peter mutter "ow."

"No," Remus said simply. "Someone upset her and she needed a hug."

James' suspicion was replaced with concern. "Who?"

Remus shrugged. "She wouldn't say. I don't think she wants to talk about it."

Eva didn't want to emerge from her hiding place because of the tears on her cheeks but knew she'd have to if she didn't want to embarrass herself or Remus even further. She moved away and Remus' arms dropped. Already she felt the loss of that comfort and protection.

"She's crying," Peter whispered. "She never cries."

"I'll hex whoever did this," Sirius said, his voice promising revenge.

Eva shook her head and finally found her voice. "That's why I don't want to talk about it. Just let it go, okay?"

"We don't just let things that upset our friends go," James said firmly.

"Make an exception. Please," Eva implored.

Remus was still hovering very close to her, as if he sensed she still needed his support. "Let it go, mates. We shouldn't upset her more."

She smiled at him gratefully.

"I still want to jinx whoever made her cry," James said mutinously.

"Hear, hear," Sirius said. "Why won't you tell us?"

"Do I have to tell you everything?" Eva snapped.

The boys seemed slightly taken aback. "Well, no, but you usually do," Peter volunteered.

Eva huffed. "It's not really any of your business. I'm going to do my Potions homework. Alone." Before she left, she squeezed Remus' hand in thanks and smiled at him weakly. He seemed to understand. She fled up the nearest staircase despite the rest of her friends' protests.

The whole experience had been unnerving. First the encounter with Snape then the very different one with Remus…she didn't know what to think about any of it. Who could she talk to? Lily hated Snape now too. She couldn't tell any of the Marauders. She didn't trust anyone else enough to talk to them about it. So she was left to stew about her thoughts all evening, unable to really concentrate on her Potions homework at all.


	24. Chapter 24

Sirius was annoyed. Eva had been surprisingly moody lately and he missed her fun, flirty side. He was doubly annoyed that she always seemed to go to Remus when she needed something. It wasn't really Remus' fault—he just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time for such things. But Sirius could take care of her just as well! He cared about her too. Too much. All he wanted was for Eva to like him back but she was almost as unreadable now as she'd been as Amy.

A small place in his chest tightened when he thought about her. He just wanted a chance with her; that was all. First he'd have to get her to admit she fancied him. Then he'd have to convince James that dating his cousin would be okay. He definitely didn't want to face the wrath of the best friend that was practically his brother. That would make things incredibly awkward. And what if they went out and broke up? The Marauders' dynamic would be ruined forever.

"Padfoot, pass the peas, would you?" James' voice brought him back to reality. They were at dinner. Eva was talking animatedly with Peter about a new strategy she wanted to use to kick Remus' butt in wizard's chess. He was the reigning champion and the rest of the group had long tried to usurp him. Remus was in the hospital wing, as it was full moon that night.

"Yeah, course," Sirius said absently, trying to keep his eyes off Eva. When had his infatuation gotten so bad? He could have any girl he wanted. Well, any girl he wanted except the one he actually did. That was the frustrating part.

His distraction continued all through dinner and he really wanted to corner Eva and ask her point blank how she felt about him. But he chickened out. She was beautiful, headstrong, brave, athletic, outgoing, and kind of terrifying when he really thought about it. Eva Potter was not a girl to be trifled with. He gloomily resigned himself to live with not knowing until he could figure out the best way to do it. For now he needed to focus on the fact that it was full moon. If that excitement couldn't perk him up, nothing could.

"That was fantastic," Sirius said gleefully after they had all transformed back and left Remus in the Shrieking Shack to be picked up by Madam Pomfrey. "One of our best adventures yet."

"It was a close call," Peter puffed. "I'm exhausted."

"I thought it was a brilliant escape," James added. "But I'm pretty tired too. We better get back to Gryffindor Tower and try to get some sleep."

"It's almost six," Eva moaned. "I have class at 9."

"Skip breakfast," Sirius suggested. "Sleep longer."

"I probably will," Eva yawned.

"And then stuff yourself at lunch," James added, earning him a look from Eva.

Once they got back to the Tower, they trudged to their respective dormitories.

Sirius shot Eva one last admiring glance as she went up the stairs. She was extra cute when she was sleepy, even if it made her crankier than usual. Even the full moon couldn't completely distract him. Great.

"Jaaaaaames," Eva moaned. "Why are we up this early for practice again?"

She was leaning on Sirius so she wouldn't fall over from sheer exhaustion and Sirius was thoroughly enjoying it.

"Simple: I want to win the match tomorrow against Ravenclaw and so help me I will not let us lose for lack of practice. Now MARCH."

There were collective groans from the team but James' enthusiasm could not be dampened. Sirius didn't know how his best mate could be such a morning person. He was hardly more awake than Eva was but knew that complaining was futile. James wasn't going to change his Quidditch habits for anything.

The sleepy Gryffindor Quidditch team did a few laps around the pitch to wake themselves up before practicing James' maneuvers. Sirius paid extra attention to training because he had an idea. If they won the match the next day, he was going to kiss Eva during the after party. Then he'd know whether she was interested either way. If she punched him, it was a no. If she kissed him back, it was a yes. He sincerely hoped she wouldn't punch him. It would be embarrassing but the bigger concern was that the girl knew how to punch.

After practice the team was slightly less zombie-like and hit the showers before heading to breakfast. Eva's wet hair was pulled back with a headband Sirius had never seen before and she looked good. Really good. She caught him staring and he tried his best not to blush. If only he could be less awkward around her. It was starting to become a problem. Staring…mind wandering…pretty soon she would know something was up. She was sharp.

He could last another day. For better or worse, it was going to be all over tomorrow. If they won.


	25. Chapter 25

The day of the match against Ravenclaw dawned and Eva was nervous. The Ravenclaw team could be formidable at times. Gryffindor had almost lost to them last year. Eva didn't want to let James down. He was determined to keep the Quidditch Cup. She had to be on top of her game, but she was still distracted by the Remus/Sirius dilemma. Sirius had been surprisingly attentive lately but she couldn't forget the way Remus had comforted her after the Snape incident—which she still hadn't shared with anyone.

"Good luck Potters!" more than one Gryffindor had said to her and James at breakfast.

"Destroy Ravenclaw for us!"

"You better win today!"

These encouragements only added to her frazzled nerves.

"Eva, you look like you're going to be sick," Lily noted. "Maybe you shouldn't play."

"I have to," Eva croaked. "There isn't a backup Chaser for this game. Besides, James and Sirius would never forgive me. This is a big deal to all of us."

"If you're sure," Lily said, still looking worried. "I'm sure it'll be fine though."

Yeah, sure, Eva thought. Just fine.

"You can do this Eva," Remus told her as he caught up to her on the way to the locker room.

"Yeah. I can. Thanks." She smiled at him gratefully, feeling a weird sort of flip flop in her stomach that she wasn't sure were nerves. "See you after the match."

"We'll be cheering for you," he said as he went off to meet up with Peter in the Gryffindor section.

Once in the air, Eva's nerves all but disappeared. Being on a broomstick was freeing and she was able to focus on the game rather than the crowd. She even scored three of Gryffindor's seven goals. The game lasted about an hour and there was an uproar when Gryffindor won. Eva did a loopdeloop to let off her excitement and couldn't wipe the smile off her face when James and Sirius assaulted her with a group hug.

Back in the Common Room, everyone celebrated the Gryffindor victory. Eva had just stuffed a pumpkin pasty in her mouth when Sirius came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She held up a finger to indicate she was chewing. The second she swallowed, she opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Sirius kissing her.

Eva had never been kissed before. She wasn't sure what to expect. Sirius' lips were warm on hers and she let herself get lost in the moment. When they were finished, he smiled at her slightly nervously and held out a hand. "Can we take a walk?"

She nodded and he led her out of Gryffindor Tower. "I've been wanting to do that for quite some time now," he confessed.

"Really?" Eva managed to find her voice.

"I…really like you. I've fancied you since fourth year."

"Really?" Eva repeated. She was surprised. That was when she was still Amy.

"You said that already."

"Sorry, it's just a lot to take in. I didn't think you liked me back," Eva admitted. She did like Sirius. A lot. Her confusing feelings for Remus—probably just a remnant of her time as Amy—didn't have to factor in. He liked her. He wanted to go out with her. She'd have to be stupid to bring Remus into it when she wasn't even sure how she felt about him.

Sirius grinned. "You like me?"

Eva nodded. "I have since I've been me—Eva—again."

Sirius scuffed his toe against the floor. "Would you want to be my girlfriend then?"

"I'd like that," Eva said and she meant it. She was tired of being single when most of her friends were in relationships. She deserved a turn, didn't she? Remus didn't like her that way anyway. If he had, wouldn't he have acted on it? It didn't matter. She was dating Sirius now.

"Brilliant. Now…how are we going to break this to James?" Sirius laughed.

"Not a clue," Eva chuckled. "Unless he saw us kissing in the Common Room. Then I think he'd know already."

Turned out, James had seen them kiss in the Common Room and wasn't as shocked as they expected. His "hurt my cousin and I kill you" speech only lasted about ten minutes and then he seemed cool with it. Peter and Lily seemed surprised. Remus didn't have much of a reaction at all and Sirius wasn't sure what that meant. He didn't think about it too much though. He was too busy reveling in his own good luck and happiness.


	26. Chapter 26

"I cannot believe you're dating Sirius Black," Lily said as the four of them sat in their dorm room, talking about their love lives.

"Why not?" Alice said, flipping through Witch Weekly. "They spend practically all their time together. It makes sense."

"Of course she'd manage to nab the hottest guy in school," Marlene moaned. "You have all the luck. I'm going to die alone."

Eva threw a pillow at Marlene. "You are not going to die alone, quit being so melodramatic."

Marlene stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Really, Eva, why are you dating him?" Lily pressed.

Eva sighed. Lily had been the least supportive of all her friends on this matter. "I like him. He likes me. Why not?"

Alice snickered. "Going by that logic, Lily would be going out with your cousin already."

Lily paled and rounded on Alice. When she spoke, it was at least an octave higher than usual. "I do NOT fancy James Potter."

Eva looked at her curiously. She had been interested in why James wasn't asking her out anymore earlier in the year but Eva hadn't realized that Lily actually liked him. It was fairly obvious by her reaction. "Lily Evans! Why don't you say something to him?"

"He's cute and charming in his own way, I suppose," Lily said. "But I wouldn't go out with someone who hexes people for the fun of it."

Eva laughed. "He'd die if he knew you thought he was cute. But I won't say anything!" she added hastily at the look on Lily's face.

"He's still arrogant and a bully," Lily said with an air of finality. "I'm not interested."

"He's been a lot better this year," Eva said softly. "I don't think he's done anything like that since the start of term."

Lily gave her the death glare. "I said I'm not interested."

"Who are you interested in then?" Marlene asked. "Seriously, Lily, all these boys are interested in you and you never give them the time of day."

Eva had a strong suspicion that it was because the guy she wanted to be asked out by had stopped doing it. To preserve their friendship, she decided to let it go. It would work out if it was meant to work out. She should try to think of the most subtle hint to give James without betraying Lily's trust. But what…

"You still haven't answered my question," Lily said. "Why are you going out with him?"

"Come on, I've had a crush on him since 5th year. We're good friends. We have similar senses of humor. I enjoy spending time with him. He's a great kisser. What more reason do I need?" Eva asked, annoyed. She didn't like her choices being dissected. They were hers to make.

Lily shrugged. "I guess I just thought you'd end up with someone different."

Eva was confused. "Different how?"

"I really can't explain it," Lily said apologetically. "The whole thing just seems off to me."

"Well thank you for your opinion," Eva sniffed. "But my dating life isn't really your business."

"How does this color of lipstick look on me?" Marlene cut in, sensing a potential confrontation.

Eva gave her a small smile. "It looks great, Mar. Really brings out your complexion." She glanced at the clock, as if remembering something she was late for. "Oh look at the time, I better go meet up with my study partner," she lied. What she really needed was a way out of this conversation and time to clear her head. Lily's comments had struck a chord with her, even though there was nothing wrong with her relationship. It did just feel…off…sometimes.

She hopped off the bed and practically sprinted down the stairs, running smack into Peter and bouncing to the floor.

"Geez, Nighteyes, what's your hurry?"

She dizzily rubbed her head. "Escaping nosy roommates."

"Wanting to know how great a kisser I am?" Sirius teased from where he was leaning against the wall.

"Oh, just help me up," Eva snorted. "I'm still seeing two of you."

"That isn't good, Nighteyes. We should get you to the Hospital Wing." James sounded worried.

"I don't need the Hospital Wing, I'm fi—" Midsentence, she was assaulted by a vision of a little girl with black braids falling out of a tall tree in the forest into a circle of dark robed men.

"She's fainted!"

"She probably has a concussion!"

"Don't just stand there, help me lift her!"

Eva heard the familiar voices as if they were coming from far away. She wanted to tell them what happened but couldn't speak or even open her eyes. She had the vague idea she was being moved and heard more fuzzy voices but could no longer make out what they were saying.

When she awoke, she was in the Hospital Wing. Remus dozed in the chair beside her bed. "Moony?"

He stirred slightly before rubbing his eyes. "Oh thank goodness you're awake."

"How long was I out?" Eva asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Two days," he said tiredly. "We've all been here in shifts so you didn't have to wake up alone. Padfoot will be mad it wasn't his turn when you did." Remus attempted a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. He'd seemed so withdrawn lately.

He cracked a more genuine smile. "You've just woken up in the Hospital Wing and are asking me if I'm alright?"

She shrugged. "I've been worried about you lately. You don't seem okay."

He turned away. "I'll manage. Always do."

"Is this about…your furry little problem?"

"Yes and no," he said sadly. "Just let it go, alright?"

Eva knew she should because he let it go when she was upset and didn't want to talk about it, but she pressed on anyway. "You're one of my best friends. You haven't been yourself the past few weeks. I just want you to be happy."

Remus looked like he was about to say something but shut his mouth. When he spoke, Eva was sure that wasn't what he originally planned to say. "Madam Pomfrey said you didn't have a concussion. She thinks it's related to the Memory Charm."

Eva sighed. "It probably is. I had a vision of a little girl that looked like me but that's all I remember right now. It's still fuzzy."

"I'm sure you'll remember everything eventually," he said encouragingly.

"But that's just it. What if I don't want to remember? I wouldn't have been Obliviated so powerfully if I hadn't seen something really bad. I don't want my life to be ruined because of this information a second time. I just want these flashbacks to stop. I just want to be normal."

"I know how that is," Remus said drily and Eva blushed. Of course he'd know what it is to yearn for normalcy much more than she did.

"I didn't mean—"

He cut her off. "I know what you meant. And it's fine. We're in completely different, ridiculous situations. You lost five years of your life. I'm a monster."

"You are NOT a monster," Eva said firmly. Remus looked skeptical but she continued. "You're not. You're a wonderful person that something bad happened to, which was not your fault."

"But—"

"Not your fault," Eva insisted. "You're far from a monster, Remus, you're one of the best people I know."

"Really?" Doubt dripped from his voice.

"Really," Eva promised.

Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to walk into the room. "Alright Miss Potter, you should head down to dinner. There's nothing more I can do for you right now. Would you escort her Mr. Lupin?"

"It would be my honor," he said with a teasing glint in his eye that made Eva want to slug him.

Eva went along with it though and held out her hand as if she were a medieval princess. He took it and tucked it into the crook of his arm. They walked like that until they were down the stairs outside of the Hospital Wing and then burst out laughing.

"Enough of that chivalrous stuff, let's go eat," Eva said.

"Well, we are Gryffindors so chivalry is sort of our thing," Remus replied, looking happier than she'd seen him in weeks.

"Race you!" she called behind her as she zoomed towards the Great Hall. She cackled as she heard his complaints behind her. It was good to see Remus acting like himself again. Hopefully her flashbacks would stop so she could feel like herself again too.


	27. Chapter 27

Eva was relieved when the school year ended. There were rumors abounding about You-Know-Who gathering his forces. Teachers whispered that they could sense war was coming. James was miserable because he'd hardly spoken to Lily all year, trying not to be the arrogant jerk she had hated. Remus was still in his too-pensive state. Peter was a nervous wreck about the war rumors. The only thing in her life that was going alright seemed to be her relationship.

Eva did wish Sirius would take the matter of You-Know-Who more seriously though. Whenever it came up, he'd smile cockily and say "I could take him," making everyone but Eva laugh. It wasn't a laughing matter.

"Don't forget to write me!" Eva called to Lily, standing across the platform with her parents and sour-looking sister. Eva didn't like her already from what little Lily had said, but Petunia Evans definitely looked like an unpleasant person. Lily nodded her assent, looking troubled at something her sister was saying. Poor Lily.

"Ready to have a summer full of mischief and making out?" Sirius raised his eyebrows.

James nearly choked on his licorice wand, making Eva laugh. "Better not talk about that too much or poor Jamesy will have an aneurysm."

"Please," James begged.

"And you two, don't forget to write," Eva said as sternly as she could manage to Remus and Peter. "Come over if you can."

"We'll see," Remus said vaguely. His parents never seemed to let him go anywhere. Probably overprotective due to his condition. Eva was grateful that his parents didn't know what he got up to at school. They'd probably pull him out and lock him up forever. He deserved better than that.

"I'll try to make it!" Peter squeaked.

James clapped him on the shoulder. "Brilliant. Oh, there are my parents. We should go."

Eva saw her parents standing over by her aunt and uncle and after giving quick hugs to both Remus and Peter, threw herself into their arms. "I missed you!" they all said at the same time, then laughed. James and Sirius strolled over and gave hugs to Aunt Euphemia and Uncle Fleamont.

"I'll see you two soon," Eva promised. "I need to spend some time with my parents first."

James gave her a salute and then fake gagged when Sirius gave her a goodbye kiss.

As they walked towards the chimney, Floo Powder in hand, her father remarked, "So that's the boy you're dating. He's a Black, isn't he?"

"Yes," Eva said defensively. "But he's absolutely nothing like his family. He's in Gryffindor and is James' best friend."

"I didn't mean it in a bad way, dear, I was just asking," her father said with a small smile. "I can tell he cares about you very much."

Eva was surprised her father could see that but found herself smiling in return as she stepped into the chimney.

"Mum, I'm going over to James'!" Eva hollered. She was bored out of her mind and Sirius had owled her saying that Peter was coming over to play two-a-side Quidditch.

"Alright dear, but be home in time for dinner! Roast chicken, your favorite," her mother replied.

Eva's stomach grumbled in anticipation as she grabbed her broomstick and flew the two miles to James' house over the woods separating their backyards. She felt another flashback coming on and was barely able to crash land in James' yard without killing herself or breaking her broom.

"Eva!" she heard in the distance as she was transported back to the middle of the woods as a little girl.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, I promise," little Eva insisted.

The men in black robes looked at each other. "What were you doing up in that tree?"

"I…I…" she stammered, unable to explain that she hid up the tree when she saw the scary men were coming. Then they would really think she was spying on them. She just didn't want to get in trouble. Her mum had told her to keep away from strangers.

"Eva!"

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw three concerned faces swimming above her. She groaned. Every part of her hurt.

"What happened?" James demanded.

"Eva, love, what hurts?" Sirius asked gently.

"Everything," she moaned.

"I'll get your mum," Peter hollered as he scurried away for Aunt Euphemia.

"Can you move?" James asked.

"We probably shouldn't move her until your mum gets here," Sirius advised. "She knows more about healing spells."

Eva groaned again. Her vision—her memory—was clearer and more precise than any previous ones. Who were those people in dark robes? What were they doing in the forest near her house? Were they the ones who had Obliviated her? And, most hauntingly, why?

"…she fell off her broomstick," Peter explained as he and Aunt Euphemia approached.

"Eva, tell me where it hurts," Aunt Euphemia commanded.

"Mostly my leg," she admitted. Everywhere else was sore but the world was coming back into focus and she was fairly certain she had broken her leg, possibly her wrist. She told her aunt so.

"You're lucky you didn't break your neck," Aunt Euphemia tutted. She did a few quick healing spells and ordered Eva into the house to lie down and have tea. She meekly complied.

"When will she be able to play Quidditch?" James asked, eager once the danger was past.

His mother shook his head at him and smiled indulgently. "She should stay off her feet for at least a couple hours. You can play Quidditch after."

There was collective moaning but everyone complied and James and Sirius decided to show off the Zonko's products they had bought on the last trip to Hogsmeade that Eva had missed by being in the Hospital Wing. She had already seen them but it was better than sitting there doing nothing.

Peter and James got into an argument about which brand of wizarding fireworks was better and Sirius moved closer to Eva, gripping her hand. "I'm glad you're safe," he said quietly. "You blacked out again, didn't you?"

Eva nodded. "The vision was so clear this time." She related the whole story and Sirius looked thoughtful.

"Eva, I think you might have run into Death Eaters."

Eva's face drained of blood. "Death Eaters?"

He nodded. "I've seen some of them skulking around Knockturn Alley back when my parents…well, you know." Before he'd run away. Eva nodded.

"What were they doing in the woods behind my house? And if they were Death Eaters, why would they Obliviate me instead of kill me?"

"I don't know," he said looking perplexed. "I can't explain it."

Suddenly, James spoke up excitedly. "I just checked, it's been 3 hours, let's play Quidditch!"

"We can talk more about this later," Sirius said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. So they scampered outside to play.

Peter was terrible at Quidditch so the teams weren't very reasonably matched. Every once in a while they had to rotate because so everyone had a turn with him as a teammate. It was fun though and mostly distracted Eva from her problems. She didn't think about it again until she was home and immediately decided to write Remus about what had happened and what Sirius speculated. He deserved to be kept in the loop even though he couldn't actually be there.


	28. Chapter 28

Eva was just about to open Remus' response letter when she heard a scream from downstairs. Alarmed, the letter flew out of her hand as she jumped up and ran down the stairs. James was waving his arms around frantically.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Eva skidded to a stop in front of him and gripped his flailing arms tightly.

"Look," he said feebly, holding out a letter with the Hogwarts crest on it.

Eva snatched it from him and scanned the first few lines. "HEAD BOY?!" she screeched. "Why on earth would they make you Head Boy? You spend half your life in detention!"

James looked down at his feet. "I never told you lot because I didn't want to get the mickey taken out of me, but I…got all Outstanding OWLs. Well, one Exceeds Expectations in Potions but still, my marks were highest of all the blokes in our year. I guess they took that into account rather than choosing someone who's actually been a prefect. I mean, isn't that how it usually goes?" He gestured helplessly. "Am I going to lose my reputation?"

Eva was still astonished at the turn of events. "Does your reputation really matter that much to you?"

"Yes…no…I don't know with the war looming over us…people disappearing…does anything really matter anymore?" He still looked frustrated and confused.

"Why James Potter I do believe you're being responsible." Eva was getting over her shock enough to be impressed with her cousin's maturity.

He shrugged. "Maybe that's why Dumbledore made me Head Boy. I swear he knows more about what goes on at school than anyone else. Maybe he knew I needed to be more responsible. That I wanted to be."

"Whatever his reasons, I'm proud of you," Eva said sincerely. "Does anyone else know?"

A small smile appeared on his face. "Mum and Dad are thrilled, of course. Padfoot didn't seem that surprised…I never told him about my OWLs though so I wonder how."

Eva laughed. "Who knows how Padfoot gets his information? He always does seem to know what's going on." A thought occurred to her. "Do you know who Head Girl is?"

He shook his head ruefully. "Who knows? Maybe that prefect from Ravenclaw…what's her name…Jane something."

Eva shrugged. "I feel like I should know her last name since I was in Ravenclaw but honestly I have no clue. I know who you're talking about though. Long curly hair, bad acne?"

James nodded. "That's the one. I just hope it's not the prefect from Slytherin, she's a nasty piece of work."

"I'm sure you could take her," Eva said confidently. "Say, do Moony and Wormtail know about this? You should tell them."

Suddenly James looked worried. "You don't think Moony will be mad I got the badge and he didn't, do you?"

Eva thought about it a moment. "I don't see why he would. He's never been competitive about things like that."

He seemed relieved. "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I better get home to write them…Mum wants to celebrate anyway. Thanks for always knowing what to say, Eva." To her surprise, he seized her into a hug.

"You're welcome," she said, muffled by his shoulder.

Once he was gone, she headed back upstairs, remembering her letter.

Dear Nighteyes,

Padfoot thinks you were Obliviated by Death Eaters? I mean, nothing else makes sense, but why would they leave you alive? You were too young to even have a wand, there was no way you could've defended yourself. I admit I'm worried about you. Your blackouts have been getting worse and worse and if Death Eaters really are involved…what will happen if you remember what they made you forget? You should be safe at Hogwarts though. I'm counting down the days. I've really missed you all.

-Moony

Eva sighed. The letter made her feel worse. He was right, it was all so confusing, and she hated worrying him. Poor Remus already had more than enough to worry about, so why had she bothered him? Was it because he just seemed the most dependable of the lot, or what? She chided herself for being so selfish before realizing he would've found out eventually anyway and it was probably better he heard it from her than from James or Sirius. She knew she'd hate being left out of the loop.

"Eva!" a voice cried through the throng on Platform 9 ¾. Eva whirled around to see Lily sprinting towards her, beaming. "You'll never believe it! I'm Head Girl! Me! A Muggleborn!"

Eva hugged her friend. "That's wonderful, Lily! It's no surprise though, with how clever you are." A thought struck her. James. "Um, have you heard who made Head Boy?"

"No, not yet, but I really hope it's Remus. He's actually pretty decent, from the times we've been on prefect duty. I can understand why you're such good friends with him," she said.

Eva gulped. Would she be upset or excited to find out it was James? She quickly realized it would be better that she heard it from her first instead of walking into the prefects' compartments and questioning James' legitimacy. "It's not Remus."

"Oh," Lily seemed a little disappointed. "Who is it then, that big bloke from Hufflepuff? He's not too bad either."

Eva summoned all her courage and quickly shot out, "It's James."

Lily was completely derailed. "James? Potter? He's never been a prefect! How on earth did he make Head Boy?"

Eva shrugged. "He's really smart. Like, really smart. That's all I'm going to say about it though."

"You drop a bomb like that on me and that's all you're going to say about it?" Lily demanded.

"He's really not that bad, Lily," Eva said quietly. "He's taking his responsibility seriously. With all that's going on in the world, he wants to do more to help."

Lily was momentarily too shocked for words. She tried a few times before getting out, "Oh. I didn't realize."

"You're going to be spending a lot of time with him, so please, be nice. He's grown up a lot the last year or so and would feel really bad if you gave him a hard time for how he used to be."

She pondered this a moment before giving Eva a small smile. "Well, considering I am going to be spending a lot of time with him, I may as well start off on the right foot."

Eva knocked her shoulder. "That's my girl. You better get to the front of the train, the prefects' will need your instructions."

"Right," Lily said, remembering herself. "And thanks, Eva. I'll see you at the feast, yeah?"

And with that she marched towards a very surprised James and struck up a conversation that continued as they boarded the train together. Eva couldn't help but wonder if things were finally going to work out in James' favor this year. Head Boy and Head Girl did spend an awful lot of time together...

"Looks like it's just you and me, eh love?" Sirius sidled up next to her out of nowhere.

"And Wormtail," she laughed, pointing him out at the edge of the platform where he was dragging his trunk.

"Ah, you're no fun," Sirius pouted. "I thought with Prongs out of the way we might get in a good snog."

Eva rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

He grinned back confidently. "You know you love me."

Did she? She wasn't quite sure. She obviously cared about him as a person and thoroughly enjoyed kissing him, but the nagging feeling that something was missing in her relationship only grew over the summer when she was spending most of her days with James and Sirius at her aunt and uncle's house. Why? They had similar personalities and interests. They had loads of fun together. They'd been best friends for years. Hadn't it been natural to slip into something more?

"Yeah, yeah," Eva responded with another eye roll. "Come on, let's snag our compartment before anyone else does."

It was quite some time before James and Remus were able to join them. James looked completely starstruck and Remus was smothering a grin.

"What happened?" Eva demanded.

"I do believe Prongs just had his first ever civil conversation with one Lily Evans," Remus said, finally cracking a smile.

"And?" Sirius prodded.

"She doesn't hate me," James said in wonder. "She seemed genuinely…nice. Like she is with everyone else."

Eva smirked, knowing she was to thank for this new development. You're welcome, she thought. She wouldn't destroy James' moment by mentioning her interference.

"Way to go, mate!" Sirius cheered. "She'll be eating out of your hand in no time."

Eva shot him a dirty look. It sounded like he was comparing her friend to a dog. He really was so clueless sometimes. "I think if you exhibit your newfound sense of responsibility that she'll actually be interested in who you are as a person," she narrowed her eyes at James. "And for the love of all that's good, don't jinx anyone in front of her again."

"Yeah," James said dreamily, clearly not listening to a word that was being said.

"Ah, love," Peter said wistfully.

Eva's heart twisted. She still didn't know if she'd ever been in love. She'd been dating Sirius for months now, shouldn't she know that at this point?


End file.
